Mini-review: True Grit (2010)

His jaws dropped on hearing everyone using their ludicrous 'tough guy' accents.

True Grit (2010)

Director: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Barry Pepper and Hailee Steinfeld.

Never have I felt so terribly UNDERWHELMED after seeing a Coens movie. True Grit is a film made by and starring supposedly masters in the art; Coens, Spielberg, Rudin, Bridges, Damon, Burtwell, Brolin and yet what we get is a mediocre film at best. True, that the technical aspects of the film were fantastic but that's a given considering it's a Coens film. Now that the film has received so many accolades and has earned around 250 mil. at the box office makes me wonder, whether the film would've been this successful if it had starred relatively unknown, indie actors instead of Bridges and Damon with no big names to back the movie. True Grit was a disappointment of epic proportions, to be very honest. Sad sad SAD!

Mini-review: High Plains Drifter (1973)

Clint Eastwood in annihilation mode as 'The Stranger'

High Plains Drifter (1973)
Director: Clint Eastwood
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Verna Bloom


Not much going for the plot here. Clint Eastwood plays his trademark role of the nameless 'Stranger' with panache and authority. The film boasts of rich, dark atmosphere owing to its low-key cinematography and haunting background score. Eastwood in his black outfit with hat atop stands out in every frame looking mythical and imposing against the barren scenery. As a director, he has done a fine job with a mediocre screenplay by spicing it up with sharp dialogues, black humor and mood. He is particularly clever at throwing in a possible supernatural explanation for his character's origin at the end of the film, something which has kept people talking over the years.