Why remake the classic John Wayne western "True Grit"? THIS is why.

The Coen brothers ("No Country for Old Men" and "Fargo") wanted to focus on Charles Portis' book, rather than the John Wayne film for their movie, and the result is a grittier, truer tale than the 1969 version.

Jeff Bridges takes on the John Wayne role of Rooster Cogburn, the one-eyed, aging, eternally drunk Marshall that young Mattie Ross (an amazing Hailee Steinfeld) hires to gun down the man who kilt her daddy. But another lawman is on the hunt, (Matt Damon, having fun as a puffed-up Texas Ranger named LaBoeuf), and the three end up travelling together through freezing, inhospitable terrain to find Tom Chane. (Josh Brolin, in what I hoped would be a bigger role. The man was made for westerns, but his brief cameo doesn't give him much opportunity to shine.) In true Coen fashion, we meet bizarre walk-on characters, and, visually, the film is replete with quirky images that make their films more interesting than most.

Was I completely blown away? Sadly, no. Perhaps my expectations were too high. But Jeff Bridges is obviously having so much fun it's nearly impossible not to have fun along with him. And thirteen-year old Hailee Steinfeld is so earnest and tough, you'd have to be made of stone not to admire her. And, after a slightly sluggish start, the last quarter of the film is taut and beautiful and strange and sad and uplifting all at the same time. That's what I expect from the Coens, and they delivered.