True Grit
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: December 22, 2010 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
80
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 41 Critic Reviews
Positive:
39
Mixed:
1
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
EmpireAngie ErrigoFeb 7, 2011
Terrific: tough, exciting, funny, gorgeous and bewitchingly acted, this is darn close to perfection. Read full review
100
The New York TimesManohla DargisDec 21, 2010
In some ways, much like Charles Laughton's "Night of the Hunter," which the Coens quote both musically and visually, True Grit is a parable about good and evil. Only here, the lines between the two are so blurred as to be indistinguishable, making this a true picture of how the West was won, or - depending on your view - lost. Read full review
91
The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsDec 22, 2010
The Coens direct True Grit with a light touch, but like Portis' stark, funny novel, their adventure tale shaves off none of the rough edges. Read full review
91
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerDec 21, 2010
On its own conventional terms, the film succeeds – maybe not as a "Coen Brothers" movie, but as a tall tale well told. Read full review
90
SlateDana StevensDec 23, 2010
The first hour and half or so of True Grit is as good as anything the Coens have ever done-a sweeping Western that, like John Ford's best films, exposes the cracks in American myths of frontier justice and self-reliance. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranDec 21, 2010
When Iris DeMent's impeccable version of the hymn is heard on the soundtrack as the final credits roll, it's the perfect touch to end a film whose aim is always true. Read full review
90
The New YorkerDavid DenbyDec 13, 2010
For the Coens, the plot elements are a given; the telling is all. [20 & 27 Dec. 2010, p. 144]
90
Boxoffice MagazinePete HammondDec 6, 2010
Smartly emphasizing Portis' quirky dialogue and dark comic tone, the Coens show the flare that made them famous. Read full review
88
USA TodayClaudia PuigDec 22, 2010
The original "True Grit" might have been eclipsed by John Wayne's larger-than-life persona, but the Coen brothers' remake is an ensemble piece that feels freshly their own. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter TraversDec 21, 2010
What makes True Grit a new classic for the Coens is the way the brothers absorb the unfairly unsung Portis into their DNA, like they did with Cormac McCarthy in "No Country for Old Men." True Grit is packed with action and laughs, plus a touching coda with an older Mattie, but it's the dialogue that really sings. Great filmmaking. Great acting. Great movie. Saddle up. Read full review
88
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsDec 21, 2010
True Grit is just a couple bloody gunfights removed from an old-fashioned Disney yarn. Yet it's still unmistakably a Coen brothers movie, from the stray weirdness of a bearskin-clad dentist to the bulls-eye delights of the dialogue. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaDec 21, 2010
True Grit is probably the least ironic picture in the Coen Brothers' worthy canon, but that doesn't mean it's devoid of their signature oddities, that it doesn't take a few dark, strange turns. Read full review
88
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanDec 21, 2010
Those of us who admire Charles Portis' novel have waited 40 years for a screen version that's as literal as possible – and the Coen brothers just about deliver it. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertDec 21, 2010
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. Their casting is always inspired and exact. The cinematography by Roger Deakins reminds us of the glory that was, and can still be, the Western. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliDec 19, 2010
The Coens have fashioned one of the best Westerns in recent years - a modern reworking of a classic that never feels superfluous. Read full review
85
MovielineStephanie ZacharekDec 22, 2010
Mattie is a no-nonsense mite with a forthright manner and a mean head for figures; she wears her hair in two sturdy braids whose tips have never seen the inside of any inkwell, believe you me. Read full review
83
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallDec 22, 2010
True Grit is a very good movie that might be more embraceable if we didn't know who was pulling the trigger. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianShawn LevyDec 22, 2010
A fine, straightforward and engaging film that restores the salt, fire and humor that Hathaway and company drained from their source, Charles Portis' wonderful 1968 novel. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumDec 15, 2010
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. Read full review
80
TimeRichard CorlissDec 25, 2010
The tense verbal comedy of Mattie's early negotiation with a Fort Smith merchant should win you over to this movie's high linguistic wit. If not, you may as well slip out of the theater and into "Little Fockers." Read full review
80
Village VoiceJ. HobermanDec 23, 2010
For the most part, the Coens' is a highly enjoyable yarn, stocked with pungent bushwa and a full panoply of frontier bozos. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'HehirDec 23, 2010
A winning western with just a few dark eddies beneath the surface, one that features a star-making lead performance and some spectacular photography, but falls just short of being great. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierDec 22, 2010
A wonderfully entertaining, beautiful Western drama that lets the quirks of the genre gallop freely as it keeps a tight rein throughout. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJ.R. JonesDec 22, 2010
This remake by Joel and Ethan Coen is being positioned as a truer True Grit, and though they take their own liberties with the plot and tone, they preserve Portis's impeccably authentic dialogue, which does more to conjure up the Arkansas of the 1870s than any period trappings. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzDec 21, 2010
A gorgeously shot, well-acted Western that resonates more the more you let it settle. Read full review
80
Time OutDavid FearDec 14, 2010
To make a Western now is in itself a subversive act. Improving, embellishing and reclaiming an old-fashioned oater from the vintage studio-cheese bin with such humor and vigor seems truly, truly ballsy. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinDec 13, 2010
True Grit isn't as momentous an event as you might hope, but once you adjust to its deliberate rhythms (it starts slowly), it's a charming, deadpan Western comedy. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyDec 6, 2010
Well-made and acted Coen Brothers remake lacks the humor and resonance that might have made it memorable. Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeDec 6, 2010
Rather than a case of the Dude doing the Duke, Bridges' irascible old cuss is a genuine original who feels larger than the familiar saga that contains him. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyDec 23, 2010
As usual, the Coens' visual elements are pristine. The contrasting colours in the fire-lit interiors are gorgeous, while cinematographer Roger Deakins keeps the camera close, resisting traditional panoramic views. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleDec 22, 2010
If there's one big difference between this version and the old, it's in the attitude toward violence. The new version may be more graphic, but it doesn't present violence as inevitable or necessary, just ugly. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayDec 22, 2010
True Grit has sweep and scope and entertainment value to burn, but it's Mattie who invests even the grandest aesthetic elements with meaning. Read full review
75
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottDec 22, 2010
This is a dirty, stinky Western -- the kind where authenticity is the guiding artistic hand and where a layer of filth and grime have seemingly settled over everything but the popcorn in your lap. Read full review
75
New York PostKyle SmithDec 21, 2010
It isn't much of a contest: The clear winner is John Wayne, because the Coens are playing his game. The Duke couldn't do the Coens' sly in-jokes, but they've never been able to reach out and move the audience to heights of emotion. Before now, they've never tried. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezDec 21, 2010
The best way to approach Joel and Ethan Coen's eagerly awaited True Grit is to lower your expectations, then lower them a bit more. The problem is not the movie, which is a terrific, no-nonsense, straightforward western. The surprise – or vague disappointment – is the prevailing lack of Coen-ness in the movie. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsDec 21, 2010
The biggest change from the '69 "True Grit" is the best thing about this formidably well-crafted picture. Portis's narrator and heroine, 14-year-old Mattie Ross, runs the show this time, not the one-eyed marshal. Read full review
75
Orlando SentinelRoger MooreDec 21, 2010
Matt Damon is an interesting, chatty choice to play Laboeuf. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenDec 24, 2010
All this is not to say that the Coens' True Grit is an awful film; it's just that these filmmakers have set their own standards for excellence, and True Grit falls short. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley MorrisDec 21, 2010
This isn't a rousing movie as much as a reassurance. The brothers (Coens) prove they can play it straight, but they're preferred, for better and worse, at a sharp angle. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternDec 23, 2010
Remaking a cherished movie is not, to borrow a fancy phrase from the dialogue, malum in se - wrong in itself - but there are always losses along with the changes and gains. Read full review
25
ObserverRex ReedDec 20, 2010
The original western won John Wayne a puzzling and undeserved Oscar for finally falling off his horse. Don't expect the same miracle for Jeff Bridges. In the numbing hands of pretentious filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen, history does not repeat itself in any way whatsoever. Read full review
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