True Grit (2010) review

 Number 594 on the top 1000 films of all time is the Coen brothers' Western 'True Grit.'

Based on the book of the same name and a remake of the 1969 film, 'True Grit' follows the unlikely relationship between a teenage girl and a federal marshal in 19th century Arkansas. When the father of 14-year-old Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) is killed by hired hand Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin) she hires federal marshal Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to track him down and bring him to justice. Also searching for Chaney is Texas ranger Laboeuf (Matt Damon.)

As you may have gathered from my High Noon review, I am not the biggest fan of Westerns. They're not a genre of film that has ever engaged me. However, I was pleasantly surprised by True Grit. A lot of that was down to Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross. Unlike the female characters of the old spaghetti Westerns, she has a lot of agency. It is her pluckiness, determination and refusal to take no for an answer that kicks off the whole storyline. Granted, she is rash and impulsive which does lead her to make silly decisions for no other reasons than to advance the storyline, but it was refreshing to see a female character with ... well grit. Steinfeld played the part well. It was bizarre that she was only nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar when she was the leading lady, but don't ask me how the Academy works.

Jeff Bridges was also great as the male lead Rooster Cogburn. He is initially dismissive of Mattie, but the two progressively become closer even forming a father-daughter relationship. It was quite touching and formed the backbone of the film. To some extent, it reminded me of Leon: the Professional with Cogburn training Mattie to help him catch Chaney. Throw in Matt Damon as Labeouf and you have the archetypal odd throuple. The three leads were very funny together and the humour helped to offset the dark tone.

Another reason that the film surprised me is that I'm generally not a fan of the Coen Brothers. As a whole, their films are too weird for me. Yet True Grit was very straightforward. There was none of their off-the-wall surrealist humour that dominates their other pictures. And unlike other Western directors *cough cough* Leone, there isn't endless tension-building that slows up the storyline. The pacing was fast and slow as was needed.

For a Western and a Coen Brother's film, I thoroughly enjoyed True Grit.

No Country for Old Men review

 Number 204 on the top 1000 films of all time is the Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men.

Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) is a Vietnam war veteran and welder who stumbles upon a big bag of drug money in the desert. He takes the money in the hopes of giving him and his wife Carla Jean (Kelly Mcdonald) a better life. However, he is being hotly pursued by mysterious hitman Anton Chigurin (Javier Bardem) who leaves a trail of chaos in his wake. Investigating this is local sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones). Woody Harrelson co-stars as a bounty hunter who is also tracking down Chirgurin.

Since I started this challenge, I've watched a fair few films by the Coen Brothers and they all contain the same offbeat, surreal humour. At times it did make things funny and at times it was tiresome. I was glad that No Country for Old Men was far more straightforward. It was more of a neo-western/thriller rather than an off-the-wall comedy. Everything was direct and easy to follow. Chigurin made a scary villain and I do think Bardem deserved his Best Supporting Actor Oscar. I loved the cinematography that was reminiscent of the old Spaghetti Westerns; the sweeping shots of the desert were great to see. You felt the isolation of all the characters. They were in this expanse all alone. Nobody was going to help them.

But despite all that, the film felt lacking. I was expecting so much more, but I was left short-changed. And I think that's because the film never really provided closure on anything. Our hero Llewelyn Moss dies off-screen. He isn't even killed by the bad guy, but by a Mexican drug cartel. There is no build-up and no payoff. He's our protagonist - the main character and he doesn't even have the dignity of an on-screen death. Sure, kill him off, but show it to us. He doesn't even have a confrontation with Chigurin. The sheer psychopathy behind Chigurin's character made him frightening to watch, but we don't even get to see him have a showdown with Llewelyn.

I was also sorely disappointed with Woody Harrelson's contribution. It looked like the film was setting up a confrontation between he and Chirgurin. And while the two meet, it's hardly the most thrilling of encounters. And shortly after, Chigurin kills him. Harrelson felt very underused.

But, perhaps this is supposed to be the point of the film. Times have changed. The days when films provide you closure and wrap everything up are long over. This is no country for old men, but also not a country for reviewers who like all their films neatly wrapped up with a pretty pink bow.

Oh Brother Where Art Thou review

 Number 472 on the top 1000 films of all time is the Coen Brother's comedy-drama Oh Brother Where Art Thou.

Inspired by Homer's the Odyssey, three convicts Ulysses 'Everett' Mcgill (George Clooney,) Pete (John Turtorro) and Delmar Mcdonnell (Tim Blake Nelson) escape from their chain gang in Mississippi to find the treasure that leader Everett hid before he was sent to prison. Hijinks and shenanigans ensue.

This is the third Coen brothers' film I've seen after Fargo and the Big Lebowski, and this has to be the most surreal yet. And I'm going to come out and sat it, the Coen brothers are too surreal for me. Oh Brother Where Art Thou is pretty weird from the heroes meeting Baby face Nelson to the valley flooding saving them from being remanded to prison. And apparently this wasn't deux ex machina as Mcgill constantly references how the valley will be flooded. But what does this all mean? Nothing probably, which I imagine is the point. 

Having said that, the film produces some genuine laughs and scares. We quickly realise that Everett is the brains of the operation, manipulating the weaker-minded Pete and Delmar to help him achieve his true objective. Along the way, they are lured away by sirens who drug and rob them and supposedly turn Pete into a toad. Of course this wasn't the case, but seeing Delmar's distress was very funny to watch.

Later on, they meet one-eyed bible salesman, Big Dan Teague (John Goodman) who squishes the supposed Pete the Toad and then beats Delmar and Everett and robs what little they have left. While he is beating Delmar, Everett nonchalantly asks him what's wrong. This kind of off-beat humour made the film very comical.

Yet it was also scary. The trio crash a KKK rally, just as they are about to perform a lynching. But the whole sequence was freaky from the Grand Wizard spouting his nonsense to the burning crosses and the ritualistic chanting. It was an abstract and disturbing spectacle.

My favourite part of the film had to be the music. Arranged by T-Bone Burnett, who later famously scored the television series True Detective, we're treated to period-specific music ranging from blues to country to folk. Most of the music is worked into the actual narrative giving the film a great authenticity, which also complimented the autumnal sepia-tone. 

The three leads, to get some quick cash, form a music group along with a Robert Johnson wannabe, and produce a record, quickly becoming local celebrities. Although all the actors were dubbed, it was great fun to see them perform. But I also loved all the gospel and blues music from the chain gang singing at the beginning to the congregation singing their hymns when Pete is baptised. And, of course, I'm not the only one who loved this music as the soundtrack won the Grammy for album of the year.

Overall while this film was entertaining with an award-winning soundtrack, it was just too damn weird for me.

Fargo film Review

 Number 175 on the top 1000 films of all time is the Coen brothers' 1996 black comedy crime film Fargo.

Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy) hires two hitmen Carl Showalter (Steve Buscemi) and Gaear Grimsrud (Peter Stormare) to kidnap his wife to extort a ransom from her wealthy father. When the kidnapping goes awry and three innocents end up dead, police woman Marge Gunderson (Frances Mcdormand) investigates.

This is the second Coen Brothers' film I've seen after The Big Lebowski, and I've also watched Noah Hawley's TV series, Fargo, which was inspired by this very film. Out of the three, I definitely found the movie Fargo, the easiest to follow. It was the simplest with no enigmatic cowboys or UFO encounters.

But then again, it really was nothing special either. And that's down to how unmemorable the characters are. Upon writing this review for the first time, I couldn't remember any of the character's names apart from Marge Gunderson. When it came to the supposed protagonist, Jerry Lundegaard, (I'll come to this later,) his journey was murky.

I can't remember it being explained why he exactly wanted his wife kidnapped and ransomed apart from some vague explanation about how he desperately needed the cash. This kept his motivations opaque and I thought it was strange that we were focussing so much on a character who wasn't even the protagonist. Apparently, the real star was Marge Gunderson who doesn't appear until 33 minutes into the film.

Frances Mcdormand won her first acting Oscar for this film, but I'm not sure why. I haven't seen enough of Mcdormand's work to rate her acting ability, but Fargo didn't do her any favours. She doesn't appear until a third into the film, and when she does, she drinks coffee, eats breakfast and says "yeah," in her "Minnesota Nice." She only stumbles upon Showalter and Grimsrud's cabin by sheer dumb luck. Also I'm no gun expert, but I am sceptical that Gunderson's little Smith & Wesson would have the range to take out the fleeing Grimsrud. But I do think that Mcdormand was short-changed. She wasn't given enough to do to make her performance Oscar-worthy.

I'm not ragging on the film completely. I think Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare were great. Their scenes together provided a lot of the film's humour. Despite having only twenty lines of dialogue, Stormare had a brilliant presence, being a true menace in every scene. And Steve Buscemi is great in every film he's in.

All in all, Fargo was an entertaining crime thriller, but nothing special. Certainly not Oscar-material. And I know the "Minnesota Nice" accents were exaggerated, but it remains one of the weirdest accents in the US.