The movie follows the character of the rough-around-the-edges U.S. Marshall, Rooster Cogburn - made famous by the late John Wayne. Cogburn is hired by a teenage girl to help track down the murderer of her father and unknowingly also enlists the help of the quirky Texas Ranger, played by Matt Damon. Josh Brolin and Barry Pepper help round out the cast.
I don't know how this plot compares to the original movie. I enjoyed the different dynamics between the characters, which were more or less believable overall. The line between good and bad was not as clearly delineated in most other movies, which I preferred. The plot was not too complex with the different dynamics going on around. It was a fairly simple plot when you think about it, but doesn't seem mundane when watching it. The characters were well written and unique. There were some cliched flaws within the characters and they weren't very complex other than most not being clearly good or bad in nature.
The cinematography was done nicely. There were only a few instances of the cliched dissolves of horseback riding across the plains that I could have done without. The locations were very beautiful with the film used. The score was a little sappy for my taste, however is almost a requirement for a western movie. I also wasn't a fan of the narration in the movie. Narration is a hard thing to pull off without becoming trite, and I don't think they were successful.
Jeff Bridges was Jeff Bridges. I've never seen John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn, so I don't know if this was an impersonation, or if Bridges added anything to this character. He does as good as job as one would expect from Jeff Bridges. Matt Damon didn't bring the movie down, which I was afraid of. He did an okay job. The girl was obviously very precocious and did amazing considering her age. I'm a big Barry Pepper fan and really loved his role, he gave it some personality and spunk. Josh Brolin was quite different than what I'm used to seeing him as. I respected the unique speech and physical approach he used with his character.
Overall, I came in with reservations because of the last Coen movie I'd seen plus the fact that it was a Western movie, which I'm not the biggest fan of. I was entertained with this movie. I don't think it was a cinematic masterpiece, but the characters were interesting enough to capture my attention for the span of the movie, and there was actually some genuinely funny parts to the movie. I'd recommend to anyone who enjoys Western films, otherwise it might make a good rental movie, if you're in the right mood. "If them men wanted a decent burial, they should've gotten themselves killed in summer" -- True Grit
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