FILM: TRUE GRIT

Elliot Hyams returns to the Wild West as the Coen Brothers try their hand at an American classic.

Who can honestly say the prospect of a remake excites them? Even when a remake is done well it can still leave you wondering what the point was in trying to fix something that wasn’t broken in the first place, and at their worst remakes achieve little more than tarnishing the name of a classic. The major motivation for remakes tends to be vanity, as some arrogant director thinks that they can have a crack at their favourite film, Gus Van Sant please stand up. But he isn’t alone, even the normally Godlike Coen Brothers have fallen foul to the curse of the remake with the awful Tom Hanks version of the Ealing comedy The Lady Killers. A film which most devoted followers of the sibling auteurs would rather just pretend never happened, but it did, which is why the news that they were planning to remake the John Wayne classic True Grit was met with some trepidation.

But we need not have worried, rather than remaking the iconic film itself, the brothers have chosen to adapt the original 1968 novel by Charles Portis. Whilst fans of the film that won Wayne an Oscar for his portrayal of over the hill Marshal Rooster Cogburn will find the story of a determined fourteen year old girl hunting down her father’s killer familiar, this is very much its own film. Jeff Bridges plays Cogburn, but rather than impersonating the Duke he offers his own take on the brutal and often drunk lawman in his winter years. It’s more Bad Blake than Lebowski and he once again proves just how versatile an actor he is. Newcomer Hailee Steinfeld holds her own as Mattie Ross, the young girl who enlists Cogburn to help her find the villainous Tom Chaney, played by Josh Brolin. Rounding up the cast is Matt Damon giving yet another sterling performance as foolhardy Texas Ranger La Boeuf, who much to his chagrin must team with Cogburn and the young girl to find Chaney.

This really is a fantastic film on every level, not only is it brilliantly written and performed, it looks beautiful as well, capturing a moment in the landscape of American history with the same kind of poetic feel that made O Brother Where art Thou such a visual treat. The film stays truer to original text than its predecessor never shying away from the brutal nature of life on the frontier, but there are no cheap kills, every character has a part to play in this complex drama. What truly sets this film apart from any of the other Christmas/New Year/Oscar rush releases is the script, fans of the Coens will know what to expect but for those that still need convincing this film shows what true masters of the craft they are. Characters are well developed, funny, and utterly believable in their interaction which makes for an engrossing experience. Whilst the Wayne version will remain an iconic classic this slice of film perfection certainly deserves a place alongside it.

Review by Elliot Hyams

FILM: TRON LEGACY

Elliot Hyams returns to the world of sexy programs and killer Frisbees in Tron Legacy.

It’s happened to all of us at some point. A drunken conversation leads to some nostalgic reminiscing about a brilliant film from our youth until finally someone claims to own it on VHS and puts it on. The room falls silent until finally someone says what everyone is thinking “Actually this is a bit shit isn’t it?” One such film that falls under this category is Disney’s Tron. This may be seen as heresy by the many fans of the film, whilst it does deserve recognition for its ground breaking special effects, it featured a ludicrous script and one of the most nonsensical narratives of all time involving Jeff Bridges being sucked into a digital universe to lead a cyber rebellion. But regardless of this, it came to be regarded as an iconic classic with fans just as passionate as any Trekkie or Jedi wannabe. Now nearly thirty years after the release of the original, Disney has once again embraced cutting edge visual technology to take us back to the world of Tron.

After his initial voyage into the grid games designer Kevin Flynn returned to the real world where he took control of software company Encom and fathered a son before mysteriously disappearing. Twenty years later Encom is a mega corporation run by a greedy board of directors much to the chagrin of Flynn’s son Sam. When his father’s best friend Alan receives a mysterious message Sam heads to his father’s office where he is digitized and sucked into the grid. There he encounters Clu 2, a program created by his father twenty years ago who controls the new system as a ruthless dictator. Sam escapes Clu’s clutches with the help of a mysterious program named Quorra who leads him to his father who has remained trapped in the system since Clu defeated Tron and seized control of the grid. Together they attempt to defeat Clu and find their way back to the real world.

Like its predecessor Tron Legacy uses the latest in C.G.I to wage an assault on the senses. The world of the grid is fantastically designed and realised, this combined with an amazing score by Daft Punk make watching this film akin to watching a laser concert, and it is thoroughly engrossing. Fans of Jeff Bridges will be thrilled to know he is on great form both as a CGI enhanced version of his younger self in Clu, but also as the older Flynn who has become a Lebowski style cyber Jedi. Tragically like its predecessor it isn’t a particularly good film, the script draws genuine laughs for the wrong reasons and the gaping holes in the narrative can cause physical pain to a viewer’s brain. But Tron Legacy doesn’t pretend to be anything more than it is, it is pure spectacle and as such it does succeed. It’s sleek and sexy in a way not seen since the Matrix, it features action, light bike chases and everything a fan boy could ever want. In many ways watching this film is like going on a date with Cheryl Cole, she may not have anything intelligent to say, but boy is she nice to look at.

Review by Elliot Hyams