A few questions about the Coen brothers' new 'True Grit' trailer

A few questions about the new trailer for the Coen brothers' movie "True Grit," due around  Christmas from Paramount:

The trailer gives us hangings, rifle shots, a loving look at a long-neck revolver and some gorgeous glimpses of horsemen silhouetted against the darkened sky. Is this the Coen brothers quietly doing their version of a Clint Eastwood western, in the sense that there isn't a shot in the trailer that couldn't have fit snugly in "High Plains Drifter," "The Outlaw Josey Wales" or "Unforgiven"?

We also get Jeff Bridges, furry and gray, with a patch over his right eye; Matt Damon with mutton-chop whiskers and an unruly mustache; and Josh Brolin with a beard that stretches from ear to ear. Is there any male character in the film who doesn't have more facial hair than the guys in ZZ Top?

Are we to judge from the trailer's biblical-style narration that the tone of the film will have far more in common with "No Country for Old Men" than "The Ladykillers"?

And is it just me, or have the Coens made more period pictures in the past decade (starting with "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" in 2000) than any other living American filmmakers?

And, hey, is Jeff Bridges channeling John Wayne or what?

Have a look for yourself:   

Photo: Jeff Bridges at the 82nd annual Academy Awards at the Kodak Theater. Credit: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[patrick shields]

Is this really the best thing you could think of to write about?
Whether or not your comparisons hold up, it looks like an excellent film to me.

Leave the Coen Brothers alone!

[Joseph L Cooke]

Crummy looking color. Bridges couldn't carry John Wayne's spare ammo. Still, it's a great story. If, unlike No Country for Old Men, this movie has an actual ending, I might pay ten bucks to watch it.

[Michael]

This movie is going to suck!! This is sacrilegious to remake this classic. Jeff Bridges or John Wayne? Matt Damon or Glen Campbell? Thank God most of the John Wayne generation is gone and doesn't have to see this abomination...

Hey Hollywood, how about some NEW ideas and stop living off of other peoples ideas.....Now that would be NOVEL!!

[Romance Movies]

The trailer looks interesting! Coen Brothers are great filmmakers who have made some amazing movies, and being a big fan of their film-making style I am looking forward to seeing this movie.

[Mark]

Unbelievable. "The Dude" abides as "The Duke?" A bowler hat? Matt Damon as a Texan?

I am gonna puke.

[cinnamon barks]

It looks lovely. Like the color scheme -- sort of a tinted tintype.

Looking forward to it.

[David]

Looks rather uninspiring. No Country for Old Men and A Serious Men cannot be surpassed. The Coen Brothers should retire and preserve their legacy unsullied by follow up dreck.

[capt. scurvy]

dead is the reader for synergy. Gee thanks Los Angeles Times!

[freud]

where's the news story here? where's the entertainment piece here? THERE IS NONE!

(but the trailer looks good!)

[Rob]

I'm not impressed by the trailer, though I have to admit I've never been a Jeff Bridges fan. But the whole idea here is that the Coen Bros. must be out of fresh ideas when they have to try to screw with remakes. They may have better technology to do things with, but the original True Grit was perfect in all aspects. Next thing you know the Coen Bros., or even lesser qualified morons in Hollywood will commit the ultimate blasphemy by trying to remake "The Sands of Iwo Jima," as a chick flick along the lines of the apocalyptically bad "Pearl Harbor." Why try to remake something great into a formulaic copy with actors that can't hold a candle to the originals? I'm just disappointed by the fact that the talented Coen Bros are the ones behind it. I'll probably go see it, but if the trailer shots of Bridges and the obviously re-shot scenes from John Wayne's academy award winning performance are any hint of the apparently low-quality characteristics of the rest of the movie, then all of us who saw the original will be disappointed.