The Revenant

Tom Hardy is a son of a bitch.

The greatest Western since “Unforgiven.”

Bleak and beautiful.

Literally breathtaking scenery.

Incredible tension in sight and sound.

So now I’ve seen Leo DiCaprio mauled by a bear.

 

true grit. (2010)

best western since unforgiven.

the little girl, pardon me, young woman Hailee Steinfeld is incredible.  she gives an oscar worthy performance no doubt.  i’m trying to think of a better performance from any single actor this last year in movies and i’m drawing a blank.  she delivers the Coen brother’s sharp, often biting dialog both deftly and gracefully.  and the Coen brothers havn’t been this good since o’ brother where are thou.

the dialog is written in a style that feels authentically old western.  whether it is or now, how am i gonna know?  but it sounds like it.  it is very witty and i found myself a couple times having to let the dialog process in my head for a second or two before i got what she was saying.  then i’d giggle out loud.

the whole thing feels authentic to me.  it’s certainly no John Wayne western.  that old west is sterile as an operating room compared to the dirty, grimy, dare i say it, gritty old west we are presented with here.  and it feels right.  much like Clint Eastwood’s western masterpiece, unforgiven.

and Mattie Ross drives the whole thing.

Jeff Bridges seems as if he can do no wrong right now.  Matt Damon is good as LeBoeuf, the uppity texas ranger.  Josh Brolin, is a good villain who is both utterly deplorable and pitiable.  and i didn’t even know Barry Pepper was in this thing til i saw him show up on screen.  and he’s awesome.  he is the perfect western genre villain.  he’s like the perfect graphic novel western villain with his mangled up face and and beedy little eyes and the way he talked to his henchmen and interacted with Hailee Steinfeld’s character.

this has to be up there with inception as best movie of the year.  it was kind of a down year in movies and i’m not even sure what else should be in the running.  prob some indie’s or limited releases i’ve never even heard of.  but as far as films that have come through my theater, true grit is one the best two movies i’ve seen all year.  and Hailee Steinfeld delivers the most powerful performance of any actor i’ve seen all year.  she really steals the thunder from Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon who both bring and show forth their star power.

true grit is a must see.  four and a half large popcorn combos out of five.

 

******possible spoiler*****

 

i blame titanic for this but i’m getting really pissed off when they bring the old lady back at the end of the movie in one scene too many.  the final scene doesn’t ruin this movie for my by any stretch of imagination, like Cate Blanchett looking like the crypt keeper in Benjamin Button ruined that movie for me,  but it keeps it from being a five star movie.  after the screen fades to black we shoulda seen end credits rolling and listen to that awesome score take us out.  no need for crusty old Mattie Ross to come trotting back on screen to wrap things up nice and neat for us.  hella lame Coen brothers.