From the beginning they expressed they weren’t attempting to “remake” John Wayne’s True Grit, they were making a whole new True Grit movie. As far as I know they used nothing of the old True Grit script, they always stated they were following the book itself.
Unfortunately everyone assumes, because of Hollywood’s infatuation with ‘remakes’ that this was only just a remake. Most people went to watch the movie expecting to see everyone attempt to do their best impression of the characters in John Wayne’s True Grit.
A lot of people got surprised when it was far from similar and seemed like a different movie altogether.....because it was an altogether different movie. John Wayne’s True Grit didn’t follow the book very much while the Coen Bros. used it as a roadmap for the whole script. Then there was Bridges’ portrayal of Rooster Cogburn, which wasn’t based off of Wayne’s portrayal but was his own construct.
Anyway, I like the new one better because if you’ve seen John Wayne in 1 western you’ve seen his range of acting for all his westerns. John Wayne was great in his own right, and no one can replace him as a king of the westerns. But John Wayne is always just John Wayne. People just need to realize that they weren’t trying to replace him with the 2010 True Grit.
Jeff Bridges was excellent, by the way. Not once did I ever try to compare him to John Wayne nor did I think I was watching Starman in a western. Jeff Bridges embodied the literary Rooster Cogburn, not the John Wayne Cogburn.
The young girl was excellent as well. The Coen Bros. really made an excellent movie.
That is a wonderful story, and for that I thank you. But....................................................................................When you remake a classic you should at least give a damn and not change the actual story line. I am pretty sure you need to be reported to attackwatch. It is for my own good.
The day after my family saw the new True Grit...they were playing the old John Wayne one on cable. My brother was watching it....I walked in and watched it for awhile and my brother said.....”Boy, they are saying the exact same lines....and the scenes are just the same.” I noticed the same similarities (albeit-limited time) and was “shocked” because I read how “different” it was going to be.
They may have stated that but they didn't follow the book, up to a point they did but when the Ranger split from them was NOT from the book, neither were many other things in the movie. The original was more true to the book than this frickin' phony a**ed remake. The biggest deviation in the original was where the Ranger died and at the end where Rooster showed up and talked to the girl.