The Coen brothers do a straight ahead Western. Who would have guessed it? The movie is faithful to the book rather than to the original film--you would predict that, based on their other adaptations. It is flawlessly cast, the actors do exactly what they are supposed to and they do it well. The landscape is more of the unforgiving West rather than the awe-inspiring views the original film employed.
The two main characters are sensational. Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn is classic--he is wearing the exact same clothes the entire movie, and he definitely does not have a second set to change into. Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) is his equal in this story--she is a 14 year old settling the affairs of her murdered father, and she sets about hiring a US Marshall to hunt down the perpetrator and bringing him to justice--either by the law or by the code of the West. She defintiely doesn't want him to get out alive, and she isn't above doing the job herself.
So there you have it--a simple story. Matt Damon plays the unlikely second to Cogburn's first, and Josh Brolin is the bad guy. While you might say that with three such stars, no wonder the movie comes off so well, which is a good point, but I would counter with the fact that Hailee Steinfield is spectacular and that the script brings out the best in the actors.
I am a big fan of the wide open West, but not such a fan of the Western--this is a pitch perfect rendition of the genre, and should not be missed.
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