Thursday, March 12, 2026

The Tragedy Of Macbeth (2021)

 


The Tragedy of Macbeth is a 2021 American tragedy film[3] written, directed and produced by Joel Coen, based on the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare. It is the first film directed by one of the Coen brothers without the other's involvement. The film stars Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand (who also produced the film), Bertie Carvel, Alex Hassell, Corey Hawkins, Harry Melling, Kathryn Hunter, and Brendan Gleeson.

The Tragedy of Macbeth premiered at the 2021 New York Film Festival on September 24, 2021. Following a limited theatrical release on December 25, 2021 by A24, the film was distributed via streaming on Apple TV+ on January 14, 2022. The film received critical acclaim for its direction, cinematography, and the performances of Washington, McDormand, and Hunter. For his performance in the title role, Washington was nominated as Best Actor for the Academy Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, Golden Globe Award, and Critics' Choice Award. The film also received Academy Award nominations for Best Cinematography and Best Production Design.

Plot

Macbeth, Thane of Glamis, and Banquo, Thane of Lochaber, having led King Duncan's army to victory over the traitorous Thane of Cawdor, are approached by three witches on the battlefield. The witches hail Macbeth as the future Thane of Cawdor and proclaim that he shall some day be King and that Banquo shall father a line of kings.

Soon thereafter, King Duncan fulfills the first prophecy by ordering the Thane of Ross to execute Cawdor and reinvest the title upon Macbeth, but King Duncan names his own son Malcolm as the prince of Cumberland, which Macbeth sees as an encumbrance to his path to the throne. When Duncan spends a night at Macbeth's castle, Lady Macbeth, aware of the prophecies, convinces her husband to commit regicide. She drugs the King's servants, and a hesitant Macbeth murders the King. At dawn, Macduff, Thane of Fife, discovers the body, and Macbeth ties up loose ends by summarily executing the servants, ostensibly as just punishment for their supposed betrayal of the King.

Fearing for his own life, Malcolm flees to England, and Macbeth assumes the throne as the new King. Uneasy over the prophecy concerning Banquo, Macbeth arranges to have him and his son Fleance murdered. Macbeth's assassins, accompanied by Ross as the Third Murderer, kill Banquo. Ross then pursues Fleance through a field.[4]

An increasingly paranoid Macbeth becomes a feared tyrant. At a royal banquet, he hallucinates and begins raving at an apparition of Banquo. Lady Macbeth has the guests dismissed before sedating Macbeth. During his trance, Macbeth is again visited by the witches. They conjure a vision of Fleance, who tells him to beware of Macduff, that he shall be King until Great Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane Hill, and that he shall be harmed by no man born of a woman. Macbeth orders the whole Macduff household to be slaughtered; only Macduff survives, having fled to England earlier.

A guilt-ridden Lady Macbeth gradually descends into insanity. Ross secretly visits England and informs Macduff of his family's demise. A grief-stricken Macduff vows revenge, while Malcolm raises an army with English help. The troops cut down branches from Birnam Wood, using them as camouflage, and march on Macbeth's castle at Dunsinane, fulfilling one of the prophecies. Lady Macbeth dies, implied to have been killed by Ross, plunging Macbeth into further despair. Still convinced of his invincibility, he is ultimately challenged by Macduff to a duel. Macduff declares he is not born of a woman but instead "untimely ripped" from his mother's body. Macbeth initially refuses but ultimately accepts Macduff's challenge. Macduff defeats and beheads Macbeth, fulfilling the final prophecy. Malcolm is crowned the new King of Scotland. Meanwhile, Fleance is revealed to be alive, and Ross spirits him away from Scotland. A flock of crows emerges in the foreground clearing the path and signaling the fulfillment of the witches' prophecy regarding Banquo's progeny.[4]

Cast

Production

The Tragedy of Macbeth is the first film created by Joel Coen without any involvement from his brother Ethan.

It was announced in March 2019 that Joel Coen, in a rare solo effort, was set to write and direct a new take on the William Shakespeare play. Scott Rudin was originally set to produce, and A24 would distribute.[6] Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand were set to star in the film;[6] McDormand had previously portrayed both Lady Macbeth and one of the Three Witches in a 2016 American stage production of Macbeth.[1] In November, Brendan Gleeson and Corey Hawkins entered negotiations to join the cast. Both were confirmed in January 2020, along with the addition of Moses Ingram, Harry Melling and Ralph Ineson to the cast.[7][8]

Filming began in Los Angeles with cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel on February 7, 2020.[9][10][11] To give the film a look "untethered from reality", it was shot entirely on sound stages.[12] In April, Coen announced that the film would officially be titled The Tragedy of Macbeth.[3] It was announced on March 26, 2020, that filming had been halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[13] Production resumed on July 23, 2020,[14] and concluded on July 31, 2020.[15] In April 2021, Rudin stepped down as producer following allegations of abuse.[16]

The film's score was composed by Carter Burwell, the Coen brothers' longtime collaborator.[12] The score's ominous tone is punctuated by moments of solo violin described by Burwell as “taking flight out of the darkness.” Helping the composer to channel the idea of a folk-style sound from unknown lands was award-winning violinist Tim Fain.[17] Regarding Joel directing alone without Ethan, Burwell stated, "Ethan didn't want to make movies anymore. He seems to be happy with what he's doing. They both have tons of unproduced scripts sitting on shelves, but I don't know what Joel will do without him."[18]

The film is presented in black-and-white with an aspect ratio of 1.37:1; the production design and visual style intended to evoke German Expressionist film-makers like F. W. Murnau and Fritz Lang.[19][20][21][22][23]

Release

The film was theatrically released by A24 followed by global launch on Apple TV+.[24] It had its world premiere at the 2021 New York Film Festival on September 24, 2021.[25][26] It was released in a limited release on December 25, 2021, prior to streaming on Apple TV+ on January 14, 2022.[27] It also concluded the London Film Festival.

Reception

Critical response

Denzel Washington received critical acclaim for his performance and earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Lead Actor.

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 92% of 287 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "Led by a stellar Denzel Washington, The Tragedy of Macbeth strips the classic story down to its visual and narrative essentials."[28] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 87 out of 100, based on 49 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[29]

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian wrote: "The movie hits its stride immediately with a taut, athletic urgency and it contains some superb images – particularly the eerie miracle of Birnam Wood coming to Dunsinane, with Malcolm’s soldiers holding tree-branches over their heads in a restricted forest path and turning themselves into a spectacular river of boughs."[30]

Alison Willmore of Vulture wrote: "[T]he movie almost seems like it could be pared down even further until it was just Macbeth and the witch, enacting this cycle in another of the purgatories that the Coen brothers have always specialized in. While The Tragedy of Macbeth is Joel Coen’s first solo directing effort...that aspect of [the Coen brothers'] long collaboration remains steady. Macbeth becomes, like so many of the Coens’ protagonists, a character trapped in his own fixations and failings, the concave world onscreen a reflection of the self he can't escape."[31]

Dave Calhoun of Time Out wrote that it was "stage-bound in all the right ways, reminiscent of a much earlier cinema, when filmmakers barely stepped outdoors and wielded magic with shadow and light on soundstages. It’s short, sharp and savage."[32] Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph wrote that it "has simmered its source text long and low, leeching every last drop of pungency and savour from the carcass", and added that it "resonates with the ancient power of a ritual."[33]

Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent found Coen's symbolism to be "a literal manifestation of the avian imagery Shakespeare summons in his play ... a hallmark of the films he made with his brother Ethan – each of them rich, puzzle box films that use every element of composition and mood to whisper their true meaning to their audience."[34]

Richard Roeper from the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three and a half stars out of four, calling it "one of the most visually striking and leanest versions of 'the Scottish play' ever put on film, with blockbuster performances from Oscar winners Frances McDormand and Denzel Washington as Lady and Lord Macbeth, and a brilliant supporting cast."[35]

Richard Brody of The New Yorker gave the film a generally negative review, stating that "Coen’s straining for seriousness and yearning for importance breaks through to the other side with the howlers of unintentional comedy ... Coen’s stripped-down adaptation sets out to normalize Shakespearean language, but he ends up going too far."[36]

Accolades

Main article: List of accolades received by The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021 film)


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The Undefeated (1969)

 


The Undefeated is a 1969 American Western and Civil War-era film directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and starring John Wayne and Rock Hudson.[3] The film portrays events surrounding the French Imperial intervention in Mexico during the 1860s period of the neighboring American Civil War. It is also loosely based on Confederate States Army General Joseph Orville Shelby's factual escape to Mexico after the American Civil War (1861–1865), and his attempt to join with Maximilian I of Mexico's Imperial Mexican forces.

Plot

Just outside of Natchez, Mississippi, during the closing days of the American Civil War, Union Army Colonel John Henry Thomas and company organize one final attack on a small unit of Confederate soldiers, only to be informed after bloodily defeating them that the war had ended three days earlier at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia. Saddened and weary, Thomas leads his men out west towards home with the intention of rounding up and selling wild horses in the Arizona and New Mexico Territories to compensate them for their loyalty, friendship, and war service.

Meanwhile, some Confederate States Army soldiers led by Colonel James Langdon feel the war has left them with no home, and they prepare to emigrate south to Mexico and serve as reinforcements to Emperor Maximilian, leader of the French intervention invasion of Mexico against the republican government of President Benito Juárez. Langdon torches his plantation home before he departs rather than seeing it fall into the hands of Northern carpetbaggers. At the same time, Thomas and the surviving members of his command meet up with Thomas' adopted Indian son, Blue Boy, and other members of his tribe from the Oklahoma and Indian Territories. Together, they round up a herd of 3,000 horses and take them south across the Rio Grande of the North for sale to Maximilian's representatives in Durango, Mexico, after refusing a lower offer from corrupt and greedy U.S. Army purchasing agents.

Halfway there, Blue Boy discovers tracks indicating that Mexican Comanchero bandits are planning an ambush on the group of Confederate travelers. Blue Boy and Thomas go to warn the emigrating Confederates and Thomas and Langdon meet. Despite their differences, the Americans - Northerners, Southerners, and Cherokee Indians - repel the group of Mexican bandidos attacking the Confederate camp, with Thomas' former Union Army troopers saving the day. Col. Langdon thanks the Northerners by inviting them to celebrate at a Fourth of July party - "Southern style". However, the former soldiers soon relive the war when a fight breaks out. They then split and go their separate ways. Meanwhile, Langdon's daughter Charlotte and Blue Boy have quickly fallen in love.

When Langdon's Southern company finally reaches their destination in Durango, they find that Emperor Maximilian's forces had been chased out days earlier, replaced by ragged Mexican Republican forces of President Juárez, under General Rojas, who imprisons them. Viewing the new foreigners as potential enemies, the Juarista general holds the Southerners hostage, offering to release them in exchange for Thomas' horses. After Langdon is sent to Thomas' camp with Rojas' demands, the reluctant American cowboys agree to pay the ransom to free their brethren. On the way to Durango, Thomas and his men are confronted by French cavalry. A battle erupts with the Americans coming out victorious. Thomas and his men bring the horses to town and pay the ransom for their former enemies.

The company of reunited Americans rides out of Durango to return to the USA. Trying to decide what song to listen to as they ride, the group passes over "Dixie" and "Battle Hymn of the Republic" before settling on "Yankee Doodle". Charlotte and Blue Boy are seen as a couple, while both Thomas and Langdon laugh at how the Confederate colonel's daughter has cut Blue Boy's hair.

Cast

Production

DVD Cover

The original script was by Stanley Hough and Casey Robinson, neither of whom is credited in the final film. Producer Robert Jacks bought the script and proposed the project in December 1967, announcing James Lee Barrett would do the final script rewriting.[4]

In May 1968, Jacks announced the film would be made through 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation (motion pictures studios) .[5] Andrew McLaglen signed to direct as the first of a two-picture deal with 20th Century-Fox.[6] In August 1968, John Wayne agreed to star.[7] The following month, Rock Hudson signed to co-star. The stunt coordinator was Hal Needham, later a film director.

According to Hudson's partner Marc Christian, Wayne started out picking on Hudson during filming, but the two men became friends.[8] In Mark Griffin's biography of Hudson, All That Heaven Allows, Wayne is shown to have initially started to "direct" Hudson, constantly suggesting what he should do on camera. When Hudson began to do the same to Wayne, Wayne pointed his finger at Hudson and said, "I like you." The suggestions stopped, and the two men became frequent partners in chess and bridge.[9]

Filming took place in Sierra de Órganos National Park, near the town of Sombrerete, Zacatecas, Mexico.[10]

Reception

Box office

The film earned $4.5 million in rentals in North America.[11]

According to 20th Century-Fox studio records, the film required $12,425,000 in rentals to break even, but by December 11, 1970, the film had made only $8,775,000, which resulted in a loss at first for the movie studio (in the short run / initial period of the one cited year (November 1969-December 1970) after its theatrical release on November 27, 1969. In the 55 years since, it has been released on new formats, including Beta / VHS video cassette tapes, laserdiscs, broadcast / cable television rights, compact discs, and online / internet streaming etc.[12]

Critical reviews

In the Chicago Sun-Times, film critic Roger Ebert (1942–2013), gave the film only 2 out of 4 stars. Ebert wrote in December 1969:

Unfortunately, McLaglen is never able to draw his threads together. As in his The Way West (1967), he takes a panoramic theme and then gets so close to it that we lose sight of the whole...[Old] pro Wayne saves a scene or two with his presence and delivery. He shelves his broken-down Rooster Cogburn image from True Grit (1969) and rides high in the saddle again.[13]

Novelization

A novelization manuscript was written by frequent author James Myers ("Jim") Thompson (1906–1977), and released in paperback form in 1969 by the publisher Popular Library.[14]

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Wednesday, March 11, 2026

The Comancheros (1961)

 


The Comancheros is a 1961 American CinemaScope Western film directed by Michael Curtiz, based on a 1952 novel of the same name by Paul Wellman, and starring John Wayne and Stuart Whitman. The supporting cast includes Ina Balin, Lee Marvin, Nehemiah Persoff, Bruce Cabot, Jack Elam, Joan O'Brien, Patrick Wayne, and Edgar Buchanan. Also featured are Western-film veterans Bob Steele, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, and Harry Carey, Jr. in uncredited supporting roles.

When terminal illness prevented Curtiz (director of Casablanca and The Adventures of Robin Hood) from finishing the film, Wayne took over as director, though his direction remained uncredited. Curtiz died shortly after the film was completed.

Plot

In pre-Civil War New Orleans, rogue gambler Paul Regret kills Emil Bouvier, the son of a Louisiana judge, in a duel. Regret maintains that he only intended to wound Bouvier (who demanded the duel) in the arm, but Bouvier sidestepped at the last moment. After learning that Bouvier's father will demand his hanging, Regret flees the state for the Republic of Texas, but remains wanted for extradition.

After a tryst with a mysterious lady, Pilar Graile, on his way to Texas, Regret is captured by Texas Ranger Captain Jake Cutter, who refuses his offer of a bribe and thwarts his attempts to break free. However, after witnessing Cutter's former homestead burned to the ground by a group of Comanche Indians, Regret successfully knocks Cutter out and escapes. Cutter returns to his post in embarrassment, but soon resumes his main task: pursuing a gang of outlaw “Comancheros,” who he suspects are illegally supplying guns and whiskey to the Comanche to make money and keep the frontier in a constant state of violence.

The Rangers have arrested a recent ex-convict named McBain, caught with a wagonload of stolen guns likely destined for Comanche territory. Reasoning that the Comancheros had not actually met McBain and could not identify him, Cutter goes to the rendezvous point as “McBain,” where he meets Comanchero smuggler Tully Crow. The two men form an uneasy partnership. That night, while playing cards, Cutter unexpectedly runs into Regret, who hides their previous interaction. However, Crow spots their connection and assumes that they are attempting to cheat him, forcing Cutter to kill him in self-defense.

With his mission against the Comancheros stalled, Cutter once again attempts to return Regret to Louisiana. The two of them are stopped at a ranch owned by a friend when the Comanche unexpectedly launch a raid on the settlement. During the fighting, Regret jumps on a horse and flees, but instead of making a clean getaway, he returns with a company of Texas Rangers, who repulse the attack. Because of Regret's act of valor, the Rangers and a Texas judge agree to perjure themselves, stating that Regret could not have been involved in the Louisiana duel because he was helping them spy on the Comancheros’ supply line. Regret is then sworn in as an official Ranger.

Posing as Comancheros, Cutter and Regret travel into Comanche territory with the stolen wagon and guns, with Rangers shadowing them at a distance. Eventually, they are intercepted by Comanches and led to the hidden self-sufficient Comanchero community at the bottom of a valley in the desert. Initially apprehended and imprisoned, the two are later released after the intercession of Pilar, who is revealed to be the daughter of the Comancheros’ paraplegic leader, Graile. At Pilar's recommendation, Graile initially welcomes Cutter and Regret into the camp. Pilar quickly deduces that Cutter is an undercover Ranger, but initially conceals this from her father out of her love for Regret.

Pilar makes preparations for Cutter and Regret to escape the settlement overnight, but Regret refuses, declaring his love for her and insisting they should run away together. At dinner, Pilar reveals Cutter's true identity to Graile, and Cutter and Regret abduct Graile and his henchmen, intending to bring them out of the settlement the following morning. The plan goes awry when a Comanchero woman, vengeful against Graile for ordering the death of her son, loudly stabs him to death, alerting the Comanches and the Comancheros to their escape and prompting a pursuit. When all seems lost, the Rangers arrive, driving the Comanche back and destroying the Comanchero camp. Regret and Pilar leave together for Mexico – outside the bounds of the extradition law – and Jake rides off into the sunset to rejoin the Ranger company.

Cast

Production

John Wayne in The Comancheros

Wellman's novel had been bought for the screen by George Stevens, who wanted to direct it after Giant (1956). He then became interested in making The Diary of Anne Frank and sold the film rights to Fox for $300,000. Clair Huffaker was signed by the studio to adapt it for producer Charles Brackett, with Gary Cooper to star. Robert Wagner was in line to play Cooper's co-star.[4]

Cooper was dying of cancer and in early 1961 Douglas Heyes was announced as writer and director. John Wayne and Charlton Heston were announced as stars but Heston dropped out and was replaced by Tom Tryon, then Heyes dropped out and was replaced by Michael Curtiz. Fox had the script rewritten by Wayne's regular writer James Edward Grant.[5]

Whitman, who later played a similar lead in the 1964 Rio Conchos, played the character Paul Regret, who was the lead in the novel, and Wayne's part had to be amplified for the film version.[6] Wellman had envisioned Cary Grant as Regret as he wrote the novel. Gary Cooper and James Garner were originally set to be the leads but Cooper's ill health and Garner's blackballing over a dispute with Jack L. Warner ruled them out.[7]

According to Tom Mankiewicz, who worked on the film as an assistant, Curtiz was often ill during production and John Wayne took over the directing.[8] Wayne told Mankiewicz to remove his John F. Kennedy button.[9]

Parts of the film were shot in Professor Valley, Dead Horse Point, King's Bottom, La Sal Mountains, Fisher Valley, Onion Creek, Hurrah Pass and Haver Ranch in Utah.[10] Despite being set in Texas in 1843, all the characters use Winchester lever-action rifles and Colt Peacemaker pistols which were not in production until almost three decades later.[11][12]

A tie-in with the release was a comic book adaptation from Dell which was published in Four Color #1300 (February 1962)[13][14]

Claude King's version of the theme song was a top 10 country hit, and peaked at #71 on the pop charts in Billboard Magazine.

Reception

Variety magazine wrote, "The Comancheros is a big, brash, uninhibited action-western of the old school about as subtle as a right to the jaw... Wayne is obviously comfortable in a role tailor-made to the specifications of his easygoing, square-shooting, tight-lipped but watch-out-when-I'm-mad screen personality. Lee Marvin makes a vivid impression in a brief, but colorful, role as a half-scalped, vile-tempered Comanchero agent."[15]

Bosley Crowther called the film "so studiously wild and woolly it turns out to be good fun"; according to Crowther, "[t]here's not a moment of seriousness in it, not a detail that isn't performed with a surge of exaggeration, not a character that is credible."[1]

The film earned theatrical rentals of $3.5 million in the United States and Canada.[3]


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True Grit (2010)

 


True Grit is a 2010 American Western film produced, written, and directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen. It is an adaptation of Charles Portis's 1968 novel. Starring Jeff Bridges and Hailee Steinfeld (in her theatrical film debut), True Grit also stars Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, and Barry Pepper. In the film, 14-year-old farm girl Mattie Ross (Steinfeld) hires boozy, trigger-happy lawman Rooster Cogburn (Bridges) to go after outlaw Tom Chaney (Brolin), who murdered her father, accompanied by Texas Ranger LaBoeuf (Damon), who is also hunting Chaney, and who has his own gripes with Cogburn.

The Coens intended their film to be a more faithful adaptation of Portis's novel than the 1969 version starring John Wayne; in particular, they wanted to tell the story from Mattie's point of view. The casting call for the role of Mattie received some 15,000 applicants before Steinfeld was selected. Principal photography occurred mainly in the Santa Fe, New Mexico, area in March–April 2010. True Grit was shot by cinematographer Roger Deakins and scored by composer Carter Burwell—both Coen regulars—while the brothers themselves edited the film, under the Roderick Jaynes pseudonym.

True Grit was released in theatres in the United States by Paramount Pictures on December 22, 2010. The film grossed $252 million worldwide on a $35–38 million production budget, and was very well received by critics, with particular praise for its acting, directing, writing, score, and production values, with some deeming it superior to the earlier adaptation. Rated one of the best films of 2010, True Grit received several awards and nominations; at the 83rd Academy Awards, it received 10 nominations, including Best Picture, but won none.

Plot

In 1878, 14-year-old Mattie Ross travels to Fort Smith, Arkansas, after her father is murdered by hired hand Tom Chaney. Sent to collect her father's body, Mattie learns that Chaney has likely fled with "Lucky" Ned Pepper and his gang into Indian Territory, where the local sheriff has no authority. She then inquires about hiring a deputy U.S. Marshal. The sheriff gives three recommendations, and Mattie chooses the "meanest" one, Rooster Cogburn, who initially rebuffs her offer, doubting both her grit and her wealth, but she raises the money by aggressive horse trading.

Texas Ranger LaBoeuf arrives in town, pursuing Chaney for the murder of a state senator. LaBoeuf proposes joining Cogburn, but Mattie refuses his offer. She wishes Chaney to be hanged in Arkansas for her father's murder, not Texas. Mattie insists on traveling with Cogburn to bear witness to justice, but he departs without her, accompanying LaBoeuf to apprehend Chaney and split the reward.

After catching up with the lawmen, Mattie is spanked for her "insolence" by LaBoeuf, until Cogburn draws his weapon on him. This, combined with their differing opinions of William Quantrill, prompts Cogburn to end his arrangement with LaBoeuf, who leaves to pursue Chaney on his own. At a rural dugout, Cogburn and Mattie find outlaws Quincy and Moon, who surrender after Cogburn shoots and injures Moon. Initially, the outlaws deny any knowledge of Ned Pepper or Chaney, but Cogburn, using Moon's worsening injury as leverage, convinces him to cooperate. Quincy, enraged, stabs Moon and is killed by Cogburn. A dying Moon reveals that Pepper's gang will arrive at the dugout that night for supplies.

Cogburn and Mattie plan an ambush, but LaBoeuf arrives first and is confronted by the gang. Cogburn shoots two gang members and accidentally hits LaBoeuf, but Pepper escapes. Due to his substantial injuries, LaBoeuf rejoins Cogburn and Mattie. The next morning, the three set off again in pursuit of Chaney and the gang, whom Cogburn believes may be hiding out in the Winding Stair Mountains. Cogburn begins to drink heavily, and the animosity between LaBoeuf and him resumes. After days of searching, the three find no trace of Chaney or the Pepper gang. Drunk, Cogburn declares that the trail has gone cold and quits the pursuit. LaBoeuf leaves the posse, declaring that he will return to Texas. Mattie expresses regret to LaBoeuf that she hired the wrong man, and they reconcile, with both admitting they misjudged each other.

While retrieving water from a stream, Mattie happens upon Chaney. She shoots and wounds him, but her revolver misfires, allowing Chaney to take her hostage. Ned Pepper convinces Cogburn to leave the area by threatening to kill Mattie. Pepper then departs with his gang, stating that someone will return with a fresh horse for Chaney and instructing him to not harm Mattie while they wait, threatening not to pay him should he disobey. Chaney, musing that Pepper has abandoned him to be captured by the law, attempts to kill Mattie. LaBoeuf arrives and knocks Chaney unconscious, revealing that Cogburn and he reunited shortly after the initial gunfight. He was to rescue Mattie while Cogburn intercepts the gang in a four-to-one standoff.

Cogburn and the outlaws charge at each other headlong, with Cogburn killing two gang members and forcing a third to flee before his own horse is shot and falls, trapping him. Alone and mortally wounded, Pepper prepares to execute Cogburn, but LaBoeuf shoots Pepper from 400 yards with his rifle. Chaney regains consciousness and knocks out LaBoeuf, but Mattie seizes the rifle and shoots Chaney dead. The recoil knocks her into a snake den, where she is bitten in the hand by a rattlesnake. Cogburn ropes in, shoots the snakes and rescues Mattie, thanking LaBoeuf and promising to send help for him before departing with Mattie to reach a doctor. After their horse collapses from exhaustion, Cogburn shoots the horse and carries a delirious Mattie on foot to reach help. Despite staying with Mattie until she is out of danger, Cogburn is gone by the time she regains consciousness, and her arm is ultimately amputated.

Twenty-five years later, Mattie receives a letter from Cogburn inviting her to attend a traveling Wild West show in which he is performing. When she finally arrives at the show's location, she is informed by Cole Younger and Frank James that Cogburn had died three days earlier. She thanks Younger, who stood and removed his hat when she approached; she calls Frank James "trash" since he stayed seated and didn't bother to show her any courtesy. Mattie, who never married, has Cogburn's body moved to her family cemetery in Yell County, Arkansas. She does not know what came of LaBoeuf.

Cast

Hailee Steinfeld was cast as Mattie Ross from among 15,000 applicants.

Production

Development

The project was confirmed in March 2009.[6] Ahead of shooting, Ethan Coen said that the film would be a more faithful adaptation of the novel than the 1969 version.

It's partly a question of point-of-view. The book is entirely in the voice of the 14-year-old girl. That sort of tips the feeling of it over a certain way. I think [the book is] much funnier than the movie was so I think, unfortunately, they lost a lot of humor in both the situations and in her voice. It also ends differently than the movie did. You see the main character – the little girl – 25 years later when she's an adult. Another way in which it's a little bit different from the movie – and maybe this is just because of the time the movie was made – is that it's a lot tougher and more violent than the movie reflects. Which is part of what's interesting about it.[7]

Mattie Ross "is a pill," said Ethan Coen in a December 2010 interview, "but there is something deeply admirable about her in the book that we were drawn to," including the Presbyterian-Protestant ethic so strongly imbued in a 14-year-old girl. Joel Coen said that the brothers did not want to "mess around with what we thought was a very compelling story and character." The film's producer, Scott Rudin, said that the Coens had taken a "formal, reverent approach" to the Western genre, with its emphasis on adventure and quest. "The patois of the characters, the love of language that permeates the whole film, makes it very much of a piece with their other films, but it is the least ironic in many regards."[8]

Nevertheless, the film adaptation differs from the original novel in subtle ways. This is particularly evident in the negotiation scene between Mattie and her father's undertaker. In the film, Mattie bargains over her father's casket and proceeds to spend the night among the corpses to avoid paying for the boardinghouse. This scene is, in fact, nonexistent in the novel, where Mattie is depicted as refusing to bargain over her father's body and never entertaining the thought of sleeping among the corpses.[9]

Casting

Open casting sessions were held in Texas in November 2009 for the role of Mattie Ross. The following month, Paramount Pictures announced a casting search for a 12- to 16-year-old girl, describing the character as a "simple, tough-as-nails young woman" whose "unusually steely nerves and straightforward manner are often surprising."[10] Steinfeld, then 13, was selected for the role from a pool of 15,000 applicants. "It was, as you can probably imagine, the source of a lot of anxiety", Ethan Coen told The New York Times. "We were aware if the kid doesn't work, there's no movie."[8] Natalia Dyer and Madelyn Cline auditioned for Mattie, Dyer was reportedly "one of the top candidates for the role."[11][12]

For the final segment of the film, a one-armed body double was needed for Elizabeth Marvel, who played the adult Mattie. After a nationwide call, the Coen brothers cast Ruth Morris – a 29-year-old social worker and student who was born without a left forearm.[13][14]

Filming

The film was shot in the Santa Fe area from March 22 to April 27, 2010, as well as in Texas (Bartlett, Granger, and Austin).[15][16] The first trailer was released in September; a second one premiered with The Social Network.

Soundtrack

Main article: True Grit (2010 soundtrack)

Johnny Cash's rendition of "God's Gonna Cut You Down" was used in the theatrical trailer. The 1887 hymn "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" is used as Mattie Ross' theme, and about a quarter of the score is based on it. Iris DeMent's version, from her 2004 album Lifeline, is used during the end credits. Other hymns are also referenced in the score, including "What a Friend We Have in Jesus",[17] "Hold to God's Unchanging Hand",[18][19] and "The Glory-Land Way".[20] Because the hymns are considered pre-composed music, the score was deemed ineligible to be nominated for Best Original Score in the 2010 Academy Awards.[21]

Reception

Box office

True Grit was released in North America on December 22, 2010. It was a commercial success, grossing $171,243,005 in North America alone, $81,033,922 in other territories, and $252,276,927 worldwide, with a budget of $35–38 million. Its box-office ranking for all-time United States was number 296; worldwide it was number 611.[2][5]

In the holiday weekend following its December 22 North American debut, True Grit took in $25.6 million at the box office, twice its prerelease projections.[4] By its second weekend ending January 2, the film had earned $87.1 million domestically, becoming the Coen brothers' highest-grossing film, surpassing No Country for Old Men, which earned $74.3 million. True Grit was the only mainstream movie of the 2010 holiday season to exceed the revenue expectations of its producers. Based on that performance, The Los Angeles Times predicted that the film would likely become the second-highest grossing Western of all time when inflation is discounted, exceeded only by Dances with Wolves.[22]

The Coen brothers, as well as Paramount executive Rob Moore, attributed True Grit's success partly to its "soft" PG-13 rating, atypical for a Coen brothers film, which helped broaden audience appeal. Paramount anticipated that the film would be popular with the adults who often constitute the Coen brothers' core audience, as well as fans of the Western genre, but True Grit also drew extended families - parents, grandparents, and teenagers. Geographically, the film played strongest in Los Angeles and New York City, but its top-20 markets also included Oklahoma City; Plano, Texas; and Olathe, Kansas.[22][23]

Critical reception

True Grit received critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes 95% of critics gave the film a positive review based on 280 reviews, with an average rating of 8.10/10 and with its consensus stating: "Girded by strong performances from Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and newcomer Hailee Steinfeld, and lifted by some of the Coens' most finely tuned, unaffected work, True Grit is a worthy companion to the Charles Portis book."[24] Metacritic gave the film an average score of 80 out of 100 based on 41 reviews from mainstream critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[25] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[26]

Roger Ebert awarded 3.5 stars out of 4, writing, "What strikes me is that I'm describing the story and the film as if it were simply, if admirably, a good Western. That's a surprise to me, because this is a film by the Coen Brothers, and this is the first straight genre exercise in their career. It's a loving one. Their craftsmanship is a wonder," and also remarking, "(t)he cinematography by Roger Deakins reminds us of the glory that was, and can still be, the Western."[27] Total Film gave the film a five-star review: "This isn't so much a remake as a masterly re-creation. Not only does it have the drop on the 1969 version, it's the first great movie of 2011."[28]

The performances of Jeff Bridges and Hailee Steinfeld garnered critical acclaim, earning them Academy Award nominations for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress respectively.

Los Angeles Times critic Kenneth Turan gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, writing, "The Coens, not known for softening anything, have restored the original's bleak, elegiac conclusion and as writer-directors have come up with a version that shares events with the first film, but is much closer in tone to the book ... Clearly recognizing a kindred spirit in Portis, sharing his love for eccentric characters and odd language, they worked hard, and successfully, at serving the buoyant novel, as well as being true to their own black comic brio."[29]

In his review for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Colin Covert wrote: "the Coens dial down the eccentricity and deliver their first classically made, audience-pleasing genre picture. The results are masterful."[30] Richard Corliss of Time named Steinfeld's performance as one of the best of 2010, saying "She delivers the orotund dialogue as if it were the easiest vernacular, stares down bad guys, wins hearts. That's a true gift."[31]

Rex Reed of the New York Observer criticized the film's pacing, referring to plot points as "mere distractions ... to divert attention from the fact that nothing is going on elsewhere." Reed considers Damon "hopelessly miscast" and finds Bridges' performance mumbly, lumbering, and self-indulgent.[32] Entertainment Weekly gave the movie a B+: "Truer than the John Wayne showpiece and less gritty than the book, this True Grit is just tasty enough to leave movie lovers hungry for a missing spice."[33]

Accolades

Main article: List of accolades received by True Grit

The film won the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Young Performer (Hailee Steinfeld) and received ten additional nominations in the following categories: Best Film, Best Actor (Jeff Bridges), Best Supporting Actress (Steinfeld), Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup, and Best Score. The ceremony took place on January 14, 2011.[34]

It was nominated for two Screen Actors Guild Awards: Best Actor in a Leading Role (Bridges) and Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Steinfeld). The ceremony took place on January 30, 2011.[35]

It was nominated for eight British Academy Film Awards: Best Film, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Bridges), Best Actress in a Leading Role (Steinfeld), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design. Roger Deakins won the award for Best Cinematography.

It was nominated for 10 Academy Awards,[36][37] but won none: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor (Bridges), Best Supporting Actress (Steinfeld), Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Sound Editing.[38] When told of all the nominations, the Coen brothers stated, "Ten seems like an awful lot. We don't want to take anyone else's."[39]

Home media

True Grit was released on DVD and Blu-ray on June 7, 2011.[2][40]

In 2023, the film became the final movie sent by Netflix through mail, ultimately ending the company's 25-year-old service of mailing DVDs and Blu-Rays.[41]


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