I’ll start by saying this: Westerns aren’t my genre.  I ‘respect’ the Coen Brothers films while not necessarily calling myself a fan of every film they’ve done.  Now all that said, I liked this remake of True Grit. I caught myself laughing in the first 30 minutes at Jeff Bridges going into the “alcoholic Dutch Schultz” routine (YouTube that name if you don’t know it), but as the movie moves along I was pulled in.  Matt Damon was reliably good in a supporting role (to absolutely no one’s surprise at this point), and Josh Brolin and a few other familiar faces show up in the film in nice roles that I won’t ruin for those planning to see this film.

The ‘star’ of this film though is Hailee Steinfeld, as the child who creates the mission that brings all these great characters together.  To say she holds her own among all the starpower in front of and behind the camera is an understatement; her character is the central character, and there’s never any question of if she belongs on the same screen with these Oscar winners.  I have no idea how this film didn’t get any Golden Globe love, but I’ll only be shocked if the Oscars gives it the same snub.

More tomorrow…