Review - True Grit (Coens, 2010) * * * *

It is pretty much resolved that the Coen Brothers could create a beautiful cinematic experience out of paint drying. In their latest opus "True Grit", the intrepid duo re-interpret a classic Charles Portis novel (already filmed in 1969 featuring an Oscar winning performance by John Wayne in the lead role) set in the Wild West and manage to inject it with enough heart, ugly beauty and trademark wit to create a piece of work all their own.

Newcomer Hailee Steinfeld plays 14-year-old Mattie Ross, a stern, focused young woman who embarks on a quest to avenge her daddy's death at the hands of Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin, again proving he's at his best working with the Coen Brothers). Along for the ride is Jeff Bridges in another hugely memorable performance as Reuben "Rooster" Cogburn, a surly but violently determined U.S Marshal, and LaBoeuf, an insecure Texas Ranger played with grace and a fair dollop of intensity by Matt Damon.

And while the acting as a whole is uniformly outstanding, the standout elements here are the uncompromising strength of the writing, direction, and sumptuous camera work from Roger Deakins. A scene involving Steinfeld's Ross bargaining with a nervous trader is just such classic Coen brothers and reminded me of the legendary gas station scene with Javier Bardem from "No Country For Old Men"; even in close personal exchanges, the Coens can put us through the emotional wringer with just a little pitch-perfect editing, finely tuned acting and crackling dialogue.

This is also an uncompromisingly violent film, despite its PG-13 rating. Thematically, the Coens plumb familiar depths here, but this film is almost like a populist "No Country For Old Men": The grey areas of human violence are once again explored, but where "No Country" was cold, detatched and contemplative, this film is personal, warm and quite human.

Some viewers should take discretion in that a lot of the dialogue (especially that of Bridges' perpetually drunk Cogburn) is unintelligible, but thanks to Steinfeld's measured performance and the Coens' meticulous attention to all the details, "True Grit" is the best old-school western in recent memory.