True Grit

"True Grit" is neither one of the Coen Brothers' best films nor one of the best films of 2010. I would even go as far as to say that the Golden Globes were maybe right for shutting it out of their nominations. It has the great technical facets that one has come to take for granted with the Coens (the screenplay, the cinematography, the editing), but this time not the narrative. There was a sense of emptiness that I felt throughout the film, and even when both shoes apparently dropped, I was left pretty disappointed.

The film, which apparently ignores the 1969 film starring John Wayne and goes back to the source material (Charles Portis' 1968 novel), both unabsorbed by me, follows Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld), a 14-year-old smart aleck who's father has been killed over a business deal by a much-sought criminal named Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin, from hunter in "No Country" to hunted here). In the Oklahoma town where her father was slain, Mattie asks Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), a drunken but menacing marshall, to chase down Chaney. He accepts, but tries, along with the ranger sent by her mother to take her back home (La Beouf, Matt Damon), to ditch her. Of course, she is unable to be sent away and she goes with them.

There is a lot of bantering between La Beouf and Cogburn, some of it that breaks the group apart for portions of time. These events lead the audience to believe what the characters believe, that the search is aimless and not going anywhere. But perhaps that's not true. See for yourself if you want to, I won't spoil.

The acting for everyone is varied. There are high marks hit by pretty much everyone (referring to the touching Bridges, the hilariously hammy Damon, the solidly articulate Steinfeld, the deceptively dumb but scary Brolin, the stolid Ed Corbin as a man wearing a bear head, and the hard and soft Barry Pepper as the gang leader Ned), but at times everyone's work (bar Corbin's) comes off like bad playacting. The writing, which apparently was the key reason that the Coens wanted to pull off this reworking, is pretty funny indeed. But the true sure thing is the cinematography, by the go-to man for westerns, Roger Deakins. It is extraordinary, especially in capturing the snow and the dusty light. He outdoes the Coens (even in their editing prowess, where they apply a good many cartoonishly abrupt fadeouts a la "A Serious Man"), and he is the validating reason for seeing the movie, which is not really much of a standalone success. (It makes me want to maybe even reevaluate "Meek's Cutoff" - I had some hankerings for that film, even though it wasn't tolerable viewing and "True Grit" was.) C+

Man in the Machine: Iron Man

Here is a movie that Transformers doesn't hold a candle to. In fact, it doesn't even hold anything to it. An exhilarating blast from not only the past but the future as this great summer movie employs techniques used before and mixes them with extreme landscapes, architecture, and action. Robert Downey, Jr. is at his absolute best as Tony Stark, a billionaire weapons dealer whose father apparently built the atomic bomb. The son isn't doing to badly either, rolling in big bucks, with a huge, gorgeous house in Malibu and some great cars. Then, during one of his trips to Afghanistan to demonstrate his new missile creation, the "Jericho", the tank he is traveling in explodes, and he is almost killed, and is also kidnapped by a terrorist group (The Ten Rings). He is forced to build another Jericho but instead, with the help of the guy who saved his life by keeping the shrapnel out of his heart (Shaun Toub), he builds a supersuit which he uses to escape. He makes it back to America with a whole new mindset about weapons and their dangers, and decides to build a bigger, better suit to destroy his weapons. But, of course, there has to be a villain, and that villain comes in the form of Obadiah Stone (Jeff Bridges), Stark's longtime partner who gets angered when Stark makes a speech that makes the stock drop 56 points. He decides to go to Afghanistan and resurrect the suit to fight off Stark. This proves to be an on target plot to add up to greatness. Gwyneth Paltrow co-stars as Pepper Potts, Stark's associate. She has some great scenes, and hits her spots very well. A great thing about this movie is the stylization. "Back in Black" at the very beginning when the tanks are coming forward fits the movie perfectly and sets the whole adrenaline rush in motion. Although Tony Stark's amount of "toys" is a bit on the exaggerated side, it still fits well with the movie. The only scene that I was impartial to was when Potts is performing a sort of surgery on Stark's body. It is the worst written scene in the movie, and it is the stupidest. You only hear the sounds of Potts' hand sloshing through the hole in Stark's body, plus it is dumb that Potts doesn't know what Operation is. The jokes, especially about Stark going into cardiac arrest briefly, are off target. This scene is the only scene that does not flow. Bottom line: this is an extremely humane and personal summer movie that is about a picked destiny instead of some sort of inflicted powers. Downey, Jr., as said before, turns in a wonderful performance, and Jon Favreau has a great vision of FX that few directors have achieved before. A-

Iron Man has violence, and a brief scene of sensuality.