True Grit [2010] and future plans

The fourth Coen brothers movie on my list was their latest, True Grit, released in 2010, and based on a novel by Charles Portis (and another movie starring John Wayne) which is new for me, because all the films I saw were written by them, not adapted. [was Fargo adapted or just based on a true story? I can't remember; anyway]. It tells the story of Mattie Ross, a stubborn 14 year old girl who hires an old, mean sheriff to revenge the death of her father, by catching and surrendering Tom Chaney, the murderer, to the authorities. What's the catch? She is going with him into the land of the Indians.  


Again, this film is very different from the other Coens pics and I love that; you never know what to expect from the brothers in terms of storyline, but you know you will always get amazing cinematography, great dialogue, strong characters and peculiar situations and people. True Grit falls perfectly into those lines and turns out to be an entertaining movie, with good intentions, multiple layers and good old time action and fun, to top the visually beautiful scenes and the great acting. 


Speaking of it, the casting is fantastic, especially when it comes down to the two leads, Reubeun Cogburn, played by Oscar winner Jeff Bridges, and Mattie Ross, played by the young Hailee Steinfeld, who, weirdly enough, was nominated for awards in the Supporting role category- her part was as lead as a role can be (stupid phrasing, but you get my point). Matt Damon did his job, but I found his character and his portrayal of it to be a little annoying and exaggerated. 


I liked the fact that the film was pretty straight-forward, tough, with attitude and funny, sarcastic lines, and I especially loved the sequence of scenes at the end- Mattie being attacked, the appearance of Cogburn and La Boeuf, shooting at 120 m, falling etc etc; it was exciting, fun to watch and nicely done. 


True Grit was a very good movie that I enjoyed. If you will ever do a Coens marathon or plan to see some of their movies or if you just like westerns or if just like good movie or if you like Jeff Bridges/Matt Damon/Josh Brolin- get this film now and see it, you will not be dissappointed!


Overall, the Coens marathon was a huge surprise for me- I did not expect to like their movies so much! Each one is unique, with distinctive features and qualities, but all have several key points that make the project better every time, and by now, if you have read my posts, you know them: script, characters, casting, cinematography- any film who excels in these points can be called a great one, so I guess it's safe to say the Coens always do an amazing job! They are now in my favorite directors, but mostly scriptwriters, category, and I can't wait to see Inside Llewyn Davis (written and directed by them, now filming in New York, with Carey Mulligan, Oscar Isaac, Garrett Hedlund, Justin Timberlake and John Goodman), and Gambit, set to be released in 2012, written by the brothers, but directed by Michael Hoffman.


If you're curious about future plans, I plan to do a mini Herzog marathon soon, and then a huge Stanley Kubrick one, with, hopefully, all of his movies (I sure need to watch them, it's embarrassing how many I haven't seen already). Honestly, I have to admit, I am terrified by Herzog, especially his earlier, feature film work, as I saw some trailers and synopsis and they don't seem something I would particularly enjoy, but I will be brave and try- maybe it's not so bad!

So, tell me, did you like my Coen brothers posts? what do you suggest I should do next? any (light) recommendations for the Herzog marathon? 

A Serious Man [2009]

My third choice for the Coens marathon was "A Serious Man", their 2009 film about the complicated life of a Jewish physics teacher. I have to admit I am not familiar with the religion, so forgive me if I make any mistakes....or actually, if I don't touch upon that topic at all.

Let's start with the beginning- what did it mean? why was that scene there? What is the connection between evil lurking a family or superstition and the story of Larry Gopnik? I can see a faint relationship between the two, but still, that scene was unnecessary for me.

The story of "A serious man" is pretty simple: a man burdened with many problems who seem to appear all at the same time, making him feel confused, saddened, desperate and in search of answers, answers which he tries to get from three different Rabbis in age in experience, with no success.  His wife wants to divorce him, although he hasn't done anything wrong and she has already found a replacement; his son is high most of the times and steals money from his sister and father; the daughter is a normal teenager who doesn't give a crap about family or school; one of his students is threatening to sue if he doesn't get a passing grade on his midterm; Larry's brother, Arthur, gets into to trouble because of his betting and other bad habits and the story could continue.

Poor Larry doesn't get a break and I felt for him- I empathized, and I wanted to make everything go away, especially since most of his obstacles were approaching him with high speed and at the same time. How can a person cope with that? You would think Sy's unfortunate ending and Danny's bar mitzvah would make things better, but that wasn't the case. As the first Rabbi said, Larry is "..looking at the world, at (your) wife with tired eyes".

Yet again, the Coens have written a great story with meaning and different layers and subtleties that talk about human nature and life. I loved the idea behind the script, but I felt the ending didn't help too much- maybe that was the point? maybe the ending suggested that these situations don't have an ending and that life isn't easy? My first reaction after seeing it was to be surprised and a little bit angry, as I didn't get it, but now, if I think about it, it does make sense. The two men sure do create weird, yet very intelligent and appealing stories- they're quite special and I love them; in my case, from now on, anything they do, I will see it, as I know I am in for a treat.

Two other great things that I like about their movies are the cinematography and the soundtrack- always on point, always beautiful and appropriate. Also, the casting is amazing each time, they pick the perfect people and I don't know if it makes sense, but it feels like the script and the direction just takes out the best in an actor, it makes them better somehow.

In this film, I loved seeing some familiar faces from my childhood repertoire (movies from the 80s or 90s I used to watch at home, on TV, with my dad), like Richard Kind (Arthur), Adam Arkin (divorce lawyer) or Fred Melamed (Sy). As for the main characters, Michael Stuhlbarg is a class above the others as Larry, the sweet teacher who tries to survive through the "storm"- he was believable, interesting, and I could relate to him; I was a bit shocked to see he wasn't nominated for an Oscar for this role. Another standout was Richard Kind, who played the innocent brother, plus Melamed gave Sy Ableman a touch of craziness that made the role ten times more fun to watch than it was probably on paper.

Overall, I must say I really liked "A serious man" and it's definitely one of my favorite Coen brothers movie. The interesting thing is that each Coen film is so different from one another, especially in storyline, but somehow, each time, it delivers in all points and each one is beautiful and fun to watch. I can't really say which one I like more, they are special in their own way and all deserve attention. I'm very intrigued by these filmmakers, as they are truly distinctive in the cinema world.

Last stop (probably): True Grit- review coming soon! [I already saw Old country for old men and don't plan to revisit it soon]