The wicked flee when none pursueth: A lazy Saturday with "True Grit"

I could not be any lazier than I have been on this very sunny but windy Saturday. I'm the only one home at my house so there is absolutely zero pressure to get up and do anything.

So that means watching what I ordered on Netflix, eating, and cutting out the letters in the words "Fourth of July" for my scrapbook. 

My most recently Netflix movie, was The Coen Brothers recent adaption of True Grit, a film first made in 1969, based on the novel written by Charles Portis in 1968.

When it comes to Westerns for me it's sort of a hit or miss thing for me. In high school my mom begged that I try to read Larry McMurtray's Lonesome Dove. The book is over 900 pages, and I say that I gave it a fair shot by getting through about 450 of them before wanting to chuck it out the window.

But then in college I read Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses, which you would already know if you are loyal follower of the blog, and fell in love.

So I figured True Grit could possibly go one of two ways for me, triumph or fail miserably. The former is my chosen representation for my opinion on the film.

I think I automatically like Westerns more through the film medium because I love the scenery almost more than anything. I think only someone who has grown up in the south west can truly appreciate it's beauty. I'm aware that Southern California and the Colorado Rockies where the film is shot are not the same, but it has the same rough, dry, that could even be referred to as barren, landscape.

The score was another background feature that aided in the success of the movie; I actually listening to it as I type this. It was composed by Carter Burwell.

But a film is not the setting, but what takes place there, and first off, something of the up most importance to me is that the story was good. The story starts right away with very little exposition. The Western is known for it's action, not filming sleepy dusty towns for 30 minutes.

The actors excelled in their roles. Jeff Bridges really made the character of Rooster mean and nasty in the beginning and lovable in the end, but I think that is how a character like that is supposed to arch. Matt Damon's character Le Boeuf does change a little for the better, but I feel he never fully redeems himself.

Hailee Steinfeld (Matti0 definitely an up in coming actress hit the preciousness of her character right on the head, but I feel, even though she is not of the lower class, her vocabulary and diction could have been eased up a little, but I don't know if that is more of a script issue than her acting.

The Hymn that plays at the end of the movie, when Matti is an adult going back to see Rooster, played a part in getting me to tear up at the end.

So quick recap on the highlights, good acting, beautiful scenery and cinematography, a lovely soundtrack, and I was entertained the whole time. Oh and there was that weird medicine guy in the bear skin, he was kind of random, but I liked the inclusion of his character. Therefore, it passes. I don't really have a score card, but it passes.