True Grit (2010)

"I will not use any contractions while I set out upon the errand that you have suffered upon me."

So says Jeff Bridges as 'Rooster' Cogburn in 'True Grit.' Well, not exactly. But he could have, in a movie whose verbal mise en scene is as significant, and more entertaining and captivating than the visual scene. Truly, one of the highlights of the movie is hearing these grizzled, filthy Westerners speak with a voice that sounds like its slipping out from behind a wad of chaw, yet all the while using a language and diction that's as sophisticated, obscure, and contrived as it is self-reflective and descriptive. This is not cowboy dialect. These characters are remarkably expressive and verbose, sometimes to the point of excess. Instead of John Wayne's drawling, "Well he-yar's whatchur gonna do," we have Josh Brolin (playing Tom Chaney) musing, "I do not know what I shall do now," or something along those lines.

Language has played a major role in the Coen brothers' oeuvre - think about the fast-talking Ulysses Everett McGill in 'O! Brother,' The Dudes' whines and 'Mans,' or Amy Archer in the 'Hudsucker Proxy' as she rattles of words with typewriter efficiency cadence. 'True Grit,' then, and it's unconventional yet appealing linguistics was an easy choice for them to produce. Largely, they've left the story as it is. It's easy, though, to appreciate their initial attraction to the tale and their desire to transcribe it to the screen unmolested (questionable morals, a story of revenge and redemption, etc) as well as note their own peculiar touch. True, 'True Grit' is a straightforward a tale as the Coen's have ever told. But their quirks, humor, and cold-blooded realism shine through, which allows them to present a unique sort of Western.  The result isn't a Western of black and white morality, like the kind that John Wayne's frequently associated with, where Injuns were always bad, cowboys were always right, and the main character was heroic with good intentions and got the girl - a Hollywood style of Western that has violence, but de-emphasizes it. It's not a Spaghetti Western either, a 'Man with No Name' sort of production, where the morals and motivations of the characters are ambiguous and generally self-serving and violence is rampant, and meted out randomly.

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