What Went Right: True Grit
By Shalimar Sahota
May 29, 2013
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, their Oscar win for No Country for Old Men (which itself had western elements) meant that your parents finally knew just who the Coen Brothers were. Bagging Oscars for Best Film, Directing and Adapted Screenplay (Javier Bardem also won one for Best Supporting Actor), the Coen Brothers now had the clout to make any film they wanted. And they did. They followed up with A Serious Man. The news came in March 2009, during the post-production of A Serious Man, that they would adapt Charles Portis’ True Grit.
Upon travelling to Fort Smith to collect the body of her dead father, 14-year-old Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) stays and hires U.S Marshal Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to help hunt down the man who killed him, Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). Joining them on their travels is Texas Ranger LaBoeuf (Matt Damon), who is also after Chaney for the murder of a senator.
True Grit is really about Mattie Ross. With the novel told from her point of view, it’s essentially a coming-of-age story about a young teenager who has lost her father. Yet, Mattie is not exactly grieving (maybe she already has); she is after revenge. Outspoken and determined, she is a character who quick-talks her way into getting $320 and asks for Tom Chaney to be hanged at Fort Smith for killing her father rather than being hanged at Texas for an entirely different crime. When casting Mattie, the Coen Brothers put out a casting call saying that they were looking for “a girl who’s tough, strong and tells is like it is.” Out of the 15,000 that auditioned they cast unknown Hailee Steinfeld.
At the film’s core is Steinfeld’s performance. Ethan emphasized this, saying to the New York Times, “We were aware if the kid doesn’t work, there’s no movie.” Joel said, “We only cast her three or four weeks before we started shooting the movie, and we had been looking for a long time. But that was a crucial, maybe the crucial aspect of making the film.”
“It’s such a coveted role,” said Steinfeld. “It’s the role of a lifetime. I mean, who wouldn’t be attracted to it?” It was a role that also got her an Oscar nomination. There was also the excellent casting choice of Jeff Brides as Rooster Cogburn. Bridges was at the height of his career, building upon a memorable supporting role in Iron Man and winning an Oscar for Crazy Heart. He also appeared in Tron Legacy, released just days before True Grit. Bridges was also Oscar nominated for his role. Both Bridges and Steinfeld share most of their screen time together and their performances were reason enough to go see the film. It’s actually quite amusing hearing Cogburn talking to Mattie about anything and everything, such as his ex-wife and owning a restaurant, and she doesn’t seem to mind listening.
One could argue that the western genre has largely dried up and for those wanting one the offerings are generally few and far between. Before True Grit the last western to be released wide was Jonah Hex. Okay, the last decent western was 3:10 to Yuma, which passed with a $53 million take at the US box office back in September 2007.
True Grit was produced on a production budget of $38 million. Released in the US on a Wednesday, December 22 2010, distributor Paramount opened the film wide at over 3,000 theatres, making it the widest release for a Coen Brothers film so far. A weekend gross of $24.8 million had it open at #2 at the US box office (it had earned a solid $36 million during its opening five days). It was held off the top spot by Little Fockers. According to Paramount, 65% of the audience that came out for the film on its opening weekend was male and 70% were over the age of 25. The Christmas holidays played a part and allowed the film to hold amazingly well during its second week, where it stayed at #2 with a take of $24.4 million. By week three, it climbed to #1 with an additional take of $14.6 million.
One of the main factors working in the film’s favor was that it didn’t really have any major competition. A (mildly enjoyable) action blockbuster didn’t emerge till the weekend of January 14th when The Green Hornet was released. By this time, True Grit was in its fourth week of release and had already managed to earn over $120 million. Spending eight weeks in the top ten, True Grit finished its run with $171.2 million. As of this writing, it ranks just behind Dances with Wolves as the second most successful western at the US box office (though that could possibly change with the release of Gore Verbinski’s The Lone Ranger). Overseas the film earned $79.8 million. With a worldwide gross of $251 million, there seemed to be a succession of good things that led to True Grit becoming the highest grossing film by the Coen Brothers.
Paramount marketed True Grit as a blockbuster and the theatrical trailer was pure genius. Incorporating additional sound effects of guns being cocked and shot, it managed to make the film look more action packed than it actually is. The first half explained the simple revenge premise while the latter half incorporated a montage of shootouts to the sound of Johnny Cash’s God’s Gonna Cut You Down.
Going into the weekend, reviews for the film were overwhelmingly positive. While some critics made sure they got their obligatory Duke and Dude jokes in, many considered it to be better than "that" John Wayne film, praising the performances, direction and Roger Deakins’ cinematography. A few also cited just how funny it is too. Not only was it the best reviewed film released over the Christmas period, but according to review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, True Grit was up there with the likes of How to Train Your Dragon, The King’s Speech, The Social Network and Toy Story 3 as one of the top five best reviewed films of 2010.
What also worked in the film’s favor was that unlike many Coen Brothers films, this was a PG-13. When talking to the New York Times about the film’s performance, Paramount’s vice chairman Rob Moore revealed that extended families were viewing the film in groups, from grandparents to teenagers, which was helped by the PG-13 rating. Being viewed by such large groups could also be attributed to having the film released over Christmas (what with families getting together and going out to see a film over the holidays). Given what was also available, True Grit seemed like the best option for all the family due to the level of quality and also the lack of prior knowledge needed compared to the sequels on offer, such as The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Tron Legacy and Little Fockers. Tied in with the fantastic word-of-mouth, which couldn’t have spread at a better time, as well as the lack of competition, True Grit was quite simply the best option.
The New York Times also asked Joel Coen if he had any idea as to why the film was performing so well. His response was, “None at all.” However, the brothers later pointed out that the PG-13 rating had helped make their film more accessible to a younger audience. “We knew we wanted it to be a movie younger people could watch,” said Joel, possibly in an effort to bring the story of True Grit to a new audience that hadn’t previously seen or read it.
True Grit was nominated for ten Oscars. When told of the nominations, the Coen Brothers said in a joint statement, “Ten seems like an awful lot. We don’t want to take anyone else’s.” The Academy must have been paying attention, for the film won none.
I viewed True Grit on the big screen on its opening weekend. While I enjoyed it, I was slightly underwhelmed upon that first viewing. I saw it as a lean, mean revenge movie. The Coen Brothers had taken a simple premise and kept it that way. Yet, this is why the film works so well. Anything else would deviate from the story and ruin it. “We didn't think we should mess around with what we thought was a very compelling story and character,” said Joel to the New York Times about adapting the novel. During a second viewing I was able to appreciate it all just that little bit more.
Everything seemed to be in the film’s favour; the reviews, the outstanding cast and the release date. I imagine that if it were released outside of Christmas, we might be looking at a lower box office total. That the Coen Brothers had produced a good film meant that this was clearly going to be a hit; yet, True Grit ended up being bigger than anyone could have anticipated. The undeniable aura of quality the film exudes is one factor, but the somewhat lucky circumstances of when it was released and how well it played meant that many got to experience it.