The Coen Brothers are on such a streak of form right now. True, Burn After Reading isn't brilliant but "not brilliant" from the Coens still tends to be better than many directors at their best. No Country For Old Men was a triumph, A Serious Man fantastic and now with True Grit they've delivered a superb western and a great film full stop.
The true grit of the title belongs to Mattie Ross (newcomer Hailee Steinfeld) a tough as nails and hugely intelligent young girl who hires drunk, disorderly but deadly US Marshall Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to avenge her Father's death by killing the man that did it (Josh Brolin). Joining the hunt is Texas Ranger La Boeuf (Matt Damon), something of a buffoon but who nevertheless displays courage and heart as the film progresses, causing Mattie to wonder if she didn't perhaps hire the wrong man in the first place.
The film is a coming of age story as much as it is a revenge story and it contains so much of what the Coens do best, pitch perfect tone (even as scenes go from dark to funny to tense and back to dark again) fantastic dialogue, economical story-telling and iconic performances. This film boasts what is absolutely a career best turn from Jeff Bridges. Yes everyone loves The Dude and yes he won his awards for the inferior Crazy Heart last year, but Bridges' Cogburn is simply phenomenol. We get the sense of him being a good man but the love of his life is whiskey and whiskey is everywhere to be found. He is at times hilariously uncoordinated, falling off his horse etc, and at times menacingly dark and is utterly compelling both ways. He is matched by Haliee Stenfeld who has an incredibly tricky job of convincing as plucky and tough without losing sight of her age or tipping into parody and at the same time revealing just enough vulnerability to let us see her change throughout the film. She is absolutely excellent and is certainly a talent to watch for the future. Matt Damon too is excellent. His character is that goofy type of character The Coens like to write but Damon always grounds him in something believable so he fits in completely with the rest of the film.
The other star of True Grit is Coens' regular cinematographer Roger Deakins, surely about to receive his long overdue Oscar next week. The film is beautifully shot, from the small scenes in cabins or by campfires to the stunning vistas one expects from a Western. True Grit is one of those films where you believe the characters have been around long before we meet them at the beginning of the part of their lives the movie depicts. With Cogburn in particular, and not just because he is the eldest, you absolutely get the sense of a man who has lived a life, not a character created for the purpose of telling a story. True Grit is elegant, tense, funny and truly a film you can just get lost inside of. In short, it's everything The Coens, at their best, have been delivering their whole career.
8.5/10
Tuesday 15 February 2011
The Fighter Review
The Fighter is one of the heavy hitters at this year's awards season, receiving a number of Oscar nominations including Best Film and Director for David O Russell. For my money it is by far the most generic of the nominated films I've seen so far. The King's Speech is pretty safe and unlikely to offend anyone but its story is unique and interesting. Black Swan is, depending on who you talk to, deranged genius or camp hysteria. Either way it certainly isn't formulaic. True Grit is an elegant masterpiece, Inception imaginative and filled with ideas. And in the middle of it all sits The Fighter. Washed up boxer seeking one last shot, family dragging him down but he needs them at the same time... all the cliches are present and accounted for. Yet there is no denying the film has class and is well acted and directed. I think my only issue is all the awards attention the film is receiving which, in an unusually strong year, makes its by the numbers story stand out all the more.
Mark Wahlberg plays Micky Ward, a welterweight who has never reached the boxing heights he dreamed of. Christian Bale is his brother Dicky, an ex-fighter himself who once knocked down Sugar Ray Leonard but who is now addicted to crack. Dicky is Mickey's trainer, when he rememebrs to turn up, and his terrifying Mother (an excellent Melissa Leo) acts as his manager. They are, of course, completely mismanaging him, as evidenced early on when Mickey is coerced into a disasterous fight proper management would never have let him be a part of. Mickey's girlfriend Charlene (Amy Adams) urges him to ditch the family but, as the film progresses, it becomes possible that Mickey needs his family, in particular his wayward brother, more than anyone realises.
There really isn't a huge amount to say about The Fighter. It does what it does and does it very well. Christian Bale is pretty much guaranteed his Oscar this year and, in truth, there is little denying it to him. He completely sells his addiction in every scene, the way he clings to his one moment of glory is sad without ever becoming pathetic or cloying and what's great about the performance is the way Bale manages to present Dicky as basically a good guy without ever shying away from the fact that he is a total screw up. When we first meet him he has a film crew following him apparently to chart his return to boxing. The reveal of what the film is actually about, as well as the way it pays off, is genuinely affecting. Bale demands your attention whenever he is onscreen and, in truth, I wonder if most of the success of the film isn't due to his performance, the best he has been in a very long time. Wahlberg is Wahlberg and doesn't derail the film, finding a quiet centre in the maelstrom that surrounds him. I was concerned early on that Amy Adams, an actress I really like, was miscast. But after a slightly shaky start she settles into her role as the tough talking bar worker who has Mickey's best interests at heart. The scenes with the rest of the family, his ferocious Mother and gaggle of frightening sisters, were somewhat cartoonish for me. I felt them over the top and ultimately didn't really believe them. What I did like though was the way the family was the film's focus. There is actually very little boxing in The Fighter (but in a nice directorial touch what fights there are O Russell films as if they're TV broadcasts) and this is to its credit as it really did make me care about the relationship between the two brothers.
I'm actually warming to the film as I type this. I was never bored, there are many genuinely funny moments and Christian Bale is standout. It's just that I'd seen it all before so many times, I found it difficult to get really enthused about the film's strengths. In that respect, it reminded me of The Town, fantastically made but way too familiar. I should say though that The Fighter is considerably better. Ultimately there is much to enjoy in the film. Just don't expect any surprises.
6.5/10
Mark Wahlberg plays Micky Ward, a welterweight who has never reached the boxing heights he dreamed of. Christian Bale is his brother Dicky, an ex-fighter himself who once knocked down Sugar Ray Leonard but who is now addicted to crack. Dicky is Mickey's trainer, when he rememebrs to turn up, and his terrifying Mother (an excellent Melissa Leo) acts as his manager. They are, of course, completely mismanaging him, as evidenced early on when Mickey is coerced into a disasterous fight proper management would never have let him be a part of. Mickey's girlfriend Charlene (Amy Adams) urges him to ditch the family but, as the film progresses, it becomes possible that Mickey needs his family, in particular his wayward brother, more than anyone realises.
There really isn't a huge amount to say about The Fighter. It does what it does and does it very well. Christian Bale is pretty much guaranteed his Oscar this year and, in truth, there is little denying it to him. He completely sells his addiction in every scene, the way he clings to his one moment of glory is sad without ever becoming pathetic or cloying and what's great about the performance is the way Bale manages to present Dicky as basically a good guy without ever shying away from the fact that he is a total screw up. When we first meet him he has a film crew following him apparently to chart his return to boxing. The reveal of what the film is actually about, as well as the way it pays off, is genuinely affecting. Bale demands your attention whenever he is onscreen and, in truth, I wonder if most of the success of the film isn't due to his performance, the best he has been in a very long time. Wahlberg is Wahlberg and doesn't derail the film, finding a quiet centre in the maelstrom that surrounds him. I was concerned early on that Amy Adams, an actress I really like, was miscast. But after a slightly shaky start she settles into her role as the tough talking bar worker who has Mickey's best interests at heart. The scenes with the rest of the family, his ferocious Mother and gaggle of frightening sisters, were somewhat cartoonish for me. I felt them over the top and ultimately didn't really believe them. What I did like though was the way the family was the film's focus. There is actually very little boxing in The Fighter (but in a nice directorial touch what fights there are O Russell films as if they're TV broadcasts) and this is to its credit as it really did make me care about the relationship between the two brothers.
I'm actually warming to the film as I type this. I was never bored, there are many genuinely funny moments and Christian Bale is standout. It's just that I'd seen it all before so many times, I found it difficult to get really enthused about the film's strengths. In that respect, it reminded me of The Town, fantastically made but way too familiar. I should say though that The Fighter is considerably better. Ultimately there is much to enjoy in the film. Just don't expect any surprises.
6.5/10
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