Movie: True Grit

This may appear familar to John Wayne fans. The story is actually based on a 1968 Charles Portis novel of the same name, but was first made into a film in 1969 staring the Duke. The film won an aging Wayne his first and only Academy Award for his protrayal of Marshal Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn.

What I love with new production is the brilliant assembly of actors. Apart from Hailee Steinfield, here playing the film's heroine, Mattie Ross, each of these leading actors has had experience with Western, cowboy-esque characters with great success. Jeff Bridges, here filling the place of Wayne, received an Academy Award for his leading performance in Crazy Heart along with many many other recognitions. Josh Brolin and the Coen Brothers collaborated a few years in the making of No Country for Old Men that won 4 of eight Academy Award nominations. Hopefully the Coen brothers can keep Brolin on this track and away from a Jonah Hex performance. Then Matt Damon, who appeared in Geronimo: An American Legend and All the Pretty Horses.

I normally really object to remakes of classic, but this just has such tremendous potential cast. It's the perfect cast with a pair of directors capable of handling the art with a brilliance that will bring it to new levels.