Dirt of Truth

Okay, so it's a retake/reimaging/redo of an older movie, and both based on the book, but I haven't seen/read that, so can only talk about Coen version of this western.

A young girl's father dies, and she decides to get some justice for herself. Because not many other people are interested. It's really about her, and Cogburn, and LeBoeuf, and this movie doesn't go the easy route. There are a lot of hard moments for Mattie, which is entirely appropriate for the time, and it's nice to see a movie keeping to the truth of the time. Although the ending is rather odd. Not entirely out of keeping, just... odd...

So, from this, big ups to Hailee Steinfeld, for playing Mattie. I would have thought they would have cast an older actress, but she would have been thirteen/fourteen at time of filming. And she does a fantastic job living up to Mattie's hard life. Really, her name should have been on the poster, and not Josh Brolin, who gets hardly anything to do. Certainly Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon (actually looking old for a change) get solid roles, and show off fine acting skills.

Westerns are not the first genre I turn to, but this is a damn fine film, and definitely recommended.

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