BY MIKEY MIGO
I was never a big John Wayne fan. To be fair, I never really got into cowboy movies. That said, isn’t that all of what John Wayne did? I dunno. He just always seemed to be one note and very overrated. I’ve not seen all of his work, so I can’t judge too far into his career, but basically it’s just never been my cup of tea. That said, I’ve never seen the 1969 John Wayne version of this movie. But I’m a fan of movies and with that it means you have to just accept the fact that the Coen brothers make great art. So with that, I manned up and finally took it upon myself to watch this movie. I love Jeff Bridges. He enough is a reason to watch a movie, but the support of Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, and a few other familiar names made it pretty easy to do. I knew about all the buzz and acclaim of the young girl in the movie and all of that. I knew way more about this movie than I’d have liked to. Still, I watched it and ended up enjoying it. The movie starts with a girl, played by Hailee Steinfeld, tending to her murdered father’s dealings and then setting out to seek revenge on the man who did it. She enlists in the help of an alcoholic gunslinger played by Bridges. They encounter a Ranger played by Matt Damon and egos clash. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Revenge is taken, heroes are made, and we get a deep and brash ending. Yeah. It’s not the Coen’s brother’s best movie by far. It lacks a bit of heart and bizarre quirk that their best movies are most loved for. The characters here were not really enjoyable. As much as I love Jeff Bridges it just felt like he was coasting here. I’m such a big fan of the guy that he still charmed his way through the movie. Really, he was basically a more cowboy version of the same guy he played in Crazy Heart. Matt Damon was just kind of there to fill in a role and never did anything to make me care for him. The girl was great. I totally get why she got the acclaim and nomination. She played it strong and carried this movie. I’m definitely going to keep an eye out for her in the future. She’s bad ass. Really, come a few years from now the girls performance is going to be the only thing worth noting. Everyone else has done much better work. If you like dry cowboy movies with dry heart and not a whole lot of shoot-out then go for it. If you want to see the Coen’s do their thing go with Lebowski, Raising Arizona, No Country, Fargo, A Serious Man, or pretty much anything of theirs. I’m not so much disappointed in this movie, but just bored. Some would say that’s the worst emotion a movie can give you. B-
|
