by Donald Lind

Created on: February 06, 2011

“The Brothers Coen tackle the Old West, while the Dude outguns the Duke”

The End of the Old West has been a theme revisited in many Westerns over the years.  And a number of directors have tackled the subject, the most recent being Clint Eastwood with 1992’s “Unforgiven.”  The one who explored the story on several occasions was Sam Peckinpah, who made the classics “The Wild Bunch” and “Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid.”  Now, the Oscar-winning brothers Joel & Ethan Coen turn their attention to the subject.

And they (and star Jeff Bridges) have the guts to do what few would even try: remake a classic that starred John Wayne.

Fairly common sentiment is that you never mess with the Duke.  But no one said you can remake his films without spitting in the face of his performance, so to speak.  The Coens’ “True Grit,” is more along the lines of their own adaptation of the source novel by Charles Portis, right down to the tough dialogue.  It’s not so much a remake (which directly implies improvement over previous subject matter), but a similar companion piece.  Both films can stand on their own merits, without one trying to be “better” than the other.

The most obvious “contest” in this situation is the portrayal of the surly U.S. Marshal Reuben “Rooster” Cogburn by both Wayne and Bridges.  With respect to the Duke, this was an iconic role for him and a performance not unworthy of his Oscar win in 1970, but this was like many John Wayne roles, where he played an exaggerated version of the same character.  Besides, he should have won for “The Searchers,” or “Rio Bravo.”

Bridges, however, is nothing like his normal persona, and plays Rooster Cogburn as a completely different man: he’s tougher, meaner, far more boisterous and braggadocios.  He’s a nasty fellow who will capture a criminal if necessary, but prefer the “dead” part of the Wanted posters.  He’s a drunken buffoon, who constantly talks up his violent past as if he is the chief author of his legend, making him a living, walking Tall Tale.  But he’s also contradictory, and when push comes to shove, Bridges’ Rooster is good as his word.

He’s just the kind of mean individual that Young Mattie Ross needs on her mission for revenge.

Newcomer Hailee Steinfeld, making her big screen

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