It would seem that brothers Joel & Ethan Coen can’t miss and this year they’re going to win more Oscars with their film True Grit. They have always made good movies, from Raising Arizona to Miller’s Crossing, Barton Fink to The Hudsucker Proxy, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Intolerable Cruelty. The Academy Award winning No Country For Old Men and now True Grit. The cast led by newcomer Hailee Steinfeld, starring Oscar winner Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Barry Pepper and Josh Brolin. Take one look at this trailer and your plans for Christmas day 2010 will be in ink- see True Grit then open the rest of my presents.

What do you think? Have you read the book written by Charles Portis? What did you think of the original adaptation starring John Wayne?

Hailee Steinfeld has been selected to play the lead role of Mattie Ross in the Charles Portis adaptation. Steinfeld joins Josh Brolin, Matt Damon and Jeff Bridges in what could launch her young career to stardom. Unlike the 1959 big screen adaptation in which John Wayne’s character was the lead the Coens plan to stick closer to the source material which sets Steindfeld’s Ross as the lead. It should be noted that John Wayne won his only Oscar for his role as  Marshall Rooster Cogburn, the coarse hard-drinking U.S. Marshal Ross employs to track down her father’s killer. I’m looking forward to seeing Jeff Bridges as Rooster, and under the direction of the Coens again (The Big Lebowski). This will be the first time Damon has worked with the brothers Coen and second time for Josh Brolin (No Country For Old Men), who has the brothers to thank for his career turnaround. See the Coen’s True Grit in theaters this Christmas Day 2010.

Next to spending time with family and opening presents around the Christmas tree my favorite Christmas tradition is seeing a new theatrical release on Christmas Day. I’m barely used to typing 2010 and I already know what movie I’ll be seeing next Christmas Day- The Coen Brothers True Grit remake. A December 25, 2010 release date was just… released. Admittedly I’m a big fan of the brothers but I have to ask you, has anyone ever been so good with someone else’s work? The Coens have penned plenty of original masterpieces but they’ve enjoyed their greatest critical successes when working with somebody else’s story. Howard Hawks The Big Sleep and The Big Lebowski, Homer’s Odyssey and O Brother, Where Art Thou?, most recently, Cormac McCarthy’s No Country For Old Men and now Charles Portis’ True Grit. A Coen Brothers/Jeff Bridges reunion makes this True Grit a must-see, sorry Duke.

Cutting to the chase: If you like the Coen Brothers previous works of No Country for Old Men, or even O Brother Where Art Thou? than you will find this to be a along the same lines. If you don’t it may make you laugh as it did me. But it also will surprise you as it is not at all what the trailers have shown it to be.

The story revolves around a disk containing the memoirs of a CIA agent that ends up in the hands of two everyday gym employees who attempt to sell it. One would think this could have some very funny twists and turns but the humor in this one was very dry and almost awkward at times.

The Coen’s have brought complex characters to the screen in the least warming way possible. If it weren’t for Brad Pitt’s crazy chararcter the film would be very drab and lacking in many places. The way in which the chararcters are introduced was very abrupt and not well thought out.

Brad Pitt plays Chad, a gym trainer at a Har Bodies chain. The way in which he goes throughout the movie is something to watch. He made the movie if you ask me.

Harry (George Clooney), an OCD womanizer, is a character you begin to route for towards the end of the film. Even though it seems he sleeps with anyone he can get his hands on, he grows on you. Creator of story after story, and lie after lie, you begin to like this guy.

Osborne Cox, played by the ever talented John Malkovich, has to be the most screwed up chararcter on screen, and in this movie that is saying a lot! Cox recently quit his post at the CIA after his boss wanted to reassign him due to having a drinking problem.

While the film had its funny parts, I must of missed the point of the film throughout. Pitt was the savior of the movie in my eyes. While each actor put in a great performance, the film was subpar as a comedy and on par as a dramedy. With that said I would also watch out for the very random violent parts of the film. In Coen style, the blood, is over the top everytime its called for.

The soundtrack on this movie was great if you ask me. It is not something that is something that I notice in a film. Over all I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys Coen Brothers films. Beside that I would probably call this a rental.

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆