TRUE GRIT (2010 - Cert 15)

January is always a bit of a busy time in film land. All the studios save their 'for your consideration' movies until that point to ensure they have the best chance possible to pick up the coveted golden statue. You had The King's Speech, Black Swan, 127 Hours, The Fighter and True Grit. I managed to see the first three but the others passed me by. The Fighter never really appealed to me, I sensed it was going to be the standard formulaic boxing pic, but True Grit, the Cohen Brothers' latest offering, that was one I really wanted to see and was gutted that it slipped out of the cinema without me getting to view it.

That is until the good old faithful Firmdale Film Club, this time the Charlotte Street Hotel, my first time there for both grub and films (both of which I heartily recommend).



This Wild West story of a 14 year old avenging her father's death with the help of a Texas Marshall and a drunk, one-eyed US Marshall was nominated for 10 Oscars earlier this year, including best film, best director, best actor (Jeff Bridges) and best supporting actress (Hailee Steinfeld), yet it didn't win any. One of the things I was most interested in was to see whether it was an inferior film and performances to the ultimate winners, or whether it was a case of the Cohen's hype diminishing after it's peak with No Country For Old Men.

Well the first thing to say is that it is 'very' Cohen Brothers. They were very quick to stress that this is not a remake of the old 1969 John Wayne film, it is more an adaptation, or a re imagining of the Charles Portis novel from which that film was adapted. I've not seen the old film or read the novel so I can't comment on where this film hails from, but what I can say is that it instantly feels like some of their other work, particularly No Country. However, it isn't just the dusty, desert settings that they both share. It's also the combination of humour, shock, realism and fear and the way that they hop between those particular feelings in the gradual pace of the film. The Coens create films where a scare is never far from a laugh, and you don't know whether to laugh or cringe at the violence taking place on screen. There are also some brilliantly executed visual elements that have that surrealism that is so often associated with the brothers, such as a man covered completely in bear skin, including head, riding slowly towards the camera, and icily, clinical and realistic violence such as the pause between a rifle being fired from distance and the bullet's impact on it's target. Make no mistake, this film feels real. People bleed and they are surrounded by death, trying to profit in any way they can in the death of others. It's a bleak and desolate Wild West, not an exciting Hollywood version.

The real mystery of the Oscars was why Steinfeld was nominated for best supporting actress when the the entire film hangs on her shoulders. Her Mattie Ross is incredible. The words that she speaks are strong, confrontational and determined, but these lines in the hands of a less talented actress would easily sound hollow and pointless. It's easy to write forceful words but to make them sound believable and powerful coming from the mouth of a 14 year old girl is a real achievement and one that Steinfeld will always have on her CV now. She is brilliant, negotiating with purpose, antagonising and shooting down men four times her age and twice her size. What makes it even more impressive is that as the film wears on, her character develops and the mask starts to slip, Steinfeld shows the vulnerability and the brittle will of this young girl, desperate for revenge, but also terrified of getting it.

She is very ably supported, yes supported, by Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon. Jeff Bridges won an Oscar for a performance that didn't have a patch on this. His role in Crazy Heart was dull and two-dimensional.  His Rooster Cogburn in this film is similar in delivery, growling drunkenly, hard to understand, but here is a turn as a character with real depth. At first glimpse he seems to be a bum, someone with barely any redeemable qualities, then the relationship with Mattie Ross grows and brings the best out of Cogburn. Ross does the same with Damon's Texas Ranger, LaBoeuf, another character that we shouldn't like, devious, cowardly and antagonistic. It's good to see Damon as something other than a good guy, he enjoys himself playing someone who has a nasty streak that we easily hate. Ross brings out a bravery in him that we hadn't seen before. Both Cogburn and LaBoeuf are real anti-heroes.

It's essentially a character film dressed up in the clothes of a chase movie. It's great to watch these people develop, especially in the hands of such fine actors. Going back to the chase element, any film like that needs a boogie man to hunt down, and in this instance it's Tom Chaney played by Josh Brolin. He doesn't get much screen time, but when he does it's a joy to watch his bad guy, a truly nasty piece of work. Stupid and violent is not a good combination, kind of an idiotic evil. He rounds off the superbly chosen cast nicely as the Coens prove their class once again.

I clearly love it, so why do I think it didn't pick up an Oscar? Well, I think it's a combination of the Academy wanting it to be someone else's 'turn' after No Country cleaned up the other year, and of a very strong field in the running in 2011. Films, directors, actors and actresses, this was really a bumper year. For True Grit to miss out is really no shameful thing as they all (the ones I've seen anyway) would have been worthy winners.

THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU (2011 - Cert 12A)

'BOURNE MEETS INCEPTION'.

This is what is splayed across the poster for the latest adaptation of a Philip K Dick story. What does that even mean? At it's most basic level, I suppose you can get away with it. Matt Damon (Bourne) is in it, it's directed by George Nolfi who had a hand in scripts for two of the Bourne films and it is about an alternative reality. However, that is where the comparisons, between a grittily real, up-close, spy thriller and one of the greatest mind-bending vision of a dreamworld, end. The Adjustment Bureau is everything that both of those films are not.

But is that good or bad?



Matt Damon isn't an amnesiac assassin here, instead he is David Morris, a charismatic politician on the verge of great things. Running for senator of New York, all seems to be going swimmingly only for a New of The World type tabloid sting that knocks his campaign for six. On the evening of his defeat he is about to make a speech to announce he will be back, when he bumps into Elise (Emily Blunt), a mysterious women in the men's room. One kiss later and he is totally gaga. He improvises a speech that makes his popularity shoot through the roof, but he obsesses over Elise. As he pursues her it becomes clear that a shadowy organisation do not want the two of them to be together. That's all you're getting on the plot front I'm afraid.

Having denied you anything more, it must be said that the film doesn't really have a big reveal, where tensions build to a huge earth shattering plot point. Instead it is very underplayed and is one of the great things about the movie. It doesn't treat the science fiction element as mysterious, attempting to keep you guessing, it just tells you what is happening, has a bit of fun explaining it and then let's the film play out in that way. The other sci-fi tradition that it isn't tempted on is the grey tones often associated with the future/alternative realities. Instead it is brightly coloured, the sun is shining (tellingly until the final sequence), New York looks as good as ever. What all of this works towards is something fun. Inception was a lot of things but it never exactly bounced along in a fun kind of way. The Adjustment Bureau does, never taking itself too seriously, not laughing at itself, but not holding itself up as 'vital' science fiction in a self-important kind of way.

This approach to the material, however, does mean that there has to be a strong degree of suspension of disbelief from the viewer, and the key to that is characters. The relationship at the centre of it really makes the film and keeps it rolling along. Essentially a 'will they, won't they' for a different audience, the fact it stays interesting and kept me engaged is an indication of the quality of the performances of the two leads. Matt Damon who had a bad press since his depiction in Team America, really is a fine actor. Performances like his in The Departed and Invictus really show him to be versatile and in The Adjustment Bureau he is immensely likeable, a good mixture of being confused, resigned, determined and in love. Although it's not exactly Oscar fare, there is enough in the role for him to really show off what he can do. It takes two to tango and thankfully Emily Blunt pulls her weight as well. The early scenes where her and Damon share the screen and the two characters get to know each other are genuinely, well, nice. They spark off one another and create a relationship that is believable. As the films nears it's conclusion she becomes less important as Damon becomes the focus, but her presence in the film is enough to ensure that the romance between the pair is the glue that keeps the film together. With so many ideas flying around it could easily get out of hand but Damon and Blunt keep the film grounded. With Nick and Norah, this is the second film that I've seen recently that really highlights that getting that central combination is key to a movie's success.

Supporting them are the various members of the Bureau itself. A bit Matrix, part traditional FBI agents, John Slattery, Anthony Mackie and good old Terrence Stamp have a ball looking sinister and chasing our heroes. They are ideal for the tone of the film, menace but in a 12A kind of way.

So back to the 'Bourne meets Inception' tag. It's not only incorrect, it also does the Adjustment Bureau a massive disservice. That quote is meant to get people through the door, but if people are going to watch it based on that statement they are going to be disappointed, because it isn't anywhere near as raw as Bourne and it doesn't have the cerebral challenge of Inception, What it is though is a charming, very entertaining, colourful, science fiction that is about love and the lengths people go to for it.