I have to admit... I find True Grit to just be a little bit overrated. I thought the performances were very strong and it does have that authentic Western feel throughout most of the film, which a lot of more modern "smart" Westerns have intentionally lacked. My issue with it was the resolve. I haven't read the novel or seen the John Wayne film, so perhaps the Coens were just sticking to the way things were supposed to play out. But I just found the confronation with Chaney and the other villains to be so quick and abrupt it almost felt like an afterthought. It seemed like there was so much build-up to it but no real payoff.
I guess I'm alone in thinking this way, as the movie is getting universal praise and is making a lot of money at the box office. And don't get me wrong... I think that is great for the traditional Western genre because it has died out and is in dire need of a revival. Perhaps we'll see more hit Westerns in the future. But I just thought that the villains as a whole weren't very fleshed out or interesting, and they could have been. I could have lived my whole life without seeing the meeting with Grizzly Patch Adams Medicine Man... if the Coens had traded that pointless scene for some more character development for Josh Brolin or Barry Pepper, it would have been much obliged.
That being said, Hailee Steinfield gave a knockout performance, and Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon were great in their parts.
