TRUE GRIT

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and Josh Brolin
Directed by: Joel and Ethan Coen
Opens: December 25, 2010

The Coen brothers bring their singular sensibility to this remake of Henry Hathaway’s 1969 revisionist western, for which John Wayne earned his first and only Oscar. Bridges inherits Wayne’s role as the eyepatch-clad Reuben J. “Rooster” Cogburn, a curmudgeonly U.S. Marshal who agrees to help a young woman track down her father’s killer in hostile Indian territory.

What We Think: We’re normally wary of remakes -- and True Grit is hardly crying out for a contemporary update -- but the Coens aren’t known for choosing projects hastily. We trust their judgment on this one.

Cool to Know: True Grit is actually the Coens’ second remake. The first was 2004’s The Ladykillers, starring Tom Hanks and Marlon Wayans. Let’s hope this one turns out a little better.