I liked the film alright and there was some beautifully scenery, but I was kinda surprised at how I didn't feel any emotional attachment to any of the characters. From the very start Mattie is a cold and calculating character with more in common with a Terminator robot than a little girl and it never lets up. Right up until the very end she has the personality of an ice cube. It's like the brain of a Terminator was installed into the robot from "Small Wonder". Jeff Bridges is entertaining, but he could have reeled it in and been less hammy. Also, he uses such an heavy mush-mouthed voice that you need the subtitles to understand everything he's saying! Matt Damon, well, he's actually pretty funny and the closest thing resembling a human of the main characters. I liked him.
I just wanted more depth to the characters. A short 10 minute build up at the beginning showing the father as a good man and Mattie as a human being would have helped a lot. One of the most impressive things about Ripley in ALIENS turning into a complete badass at the end was she was genuinely a nice person who was just pushed too goddamn far by the aliens and that's what needed to be shown here. We never got to see Mattie as a sweet innocent girl. There's also a lot of wasted time in the middle section that could have been fleshed out better.
Worth a watch, it's a good film.
Original - True Grit (1969)
