BETWEEN THE LINES: Golden Globes Ignore ‘True Grit’
As much as technology has made our home television sets larger and clearer than their early predecessors, there is still no substitute for the big screens and gargantuan sound systems of the movie cinemas. And so it was with great pleasure that my wife and I ventured to the local theater Sunday afternoon to see the remake of the 1969 film "True Grit," which earned John Wayne his only Oscar for best leading male performer.
The movie was a classic Western in which the protagonist plays a stubborn, whiskey-drinking anti-hero with a well concealed soft heart for damsels in distress. In true Western fashion, our hero ends the flick with a shoot-’em-up ending in which the Duke gets the really bad guys.
The new version was written and directed by the Coen brothers and stars Jeff Bridges in the Wayne role of Rooster Cogburn, a maverick federal marshal. The Texas Ranger originally played by singer Glen Campbell now goes to Matt Damon. However, the real star of the remake is 13-year-old first time actress Hailee Steinfeld, playing the spunky Mattie Ross. That part went to Kim Darby in the 1969 film.
In Hollywood, young film prodigies not only steal scenes, but movies as well. Even though she will be classified in the best-supporting actress category, spectators will leave the theater thinking otherwise.
Portions of the new "True Grit" also were filmed near Marble Falls.
Oddly enough, the Foreign Press Association, which nominates the selections for the Golden Globes, saw fit to give the movie a complete pass —even though five nominees are made in each category. The spectacular cinematography alone merited a worthwhile nomination.
This is not particularly surprising since the Golden Globes committee along with their Hollywood counterparts much prefer the edgier, controversial movies like those made by Michael Moore.
Emmy-award winning writer Jack Cashill in a recent column had a theory about why foreign critics snubbed the remake. He attributes their aversion to the film’s unabashed republican virtue demonstrated by Ross, and the religious context in which the Coens framed their film. Cashill labels those attributes as self-reliance, resourcefulness, strength, competence, charity and piety.
The writers indicate the direction they wish to take beginning with the film’s opening lines in which Mattie narrates in her monologue.
“You must pay for everything in the world one way or the other. There is nothing free with the exception of God’s grace.”
They end the movie on the same note with the singing of the hymn "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms." The opening dialogue was included in the original novel by Charles Portis.
God, it seems, does not play well in Europe where they would more than likely be offended by Mattie’s persistent faith.
Judging by the full crowd in attendance, I do not believe the movie-going public will pay much attention to the snub. Most attendees were the over-50 crowd. If they were not members of the Greatest Generation, at least they understood the values of those who survived the Great Depression and World War II.
According to Cashill, political correctness has moved the individual with his or her actions and dreams out, and replaced them with collective social action, which people on the left find more attractive.
The rugged individualism that forged America, and demonstrated by the likes of Mattie Ross, does not fit the current mode of social thinking.
Fortunately, domestic film critics are raving about Steinfeld’s performance. Look for the young star to receive an Oscar nomination. It just goes to show you that you can’t keep a good girl down.