Is True Grit the best film of the Coen Brothers' illustrious career? I'd say no but its certainly their most accessible. In this adaptation of the Charles Portis novel (which also inspired the great John Wayne film from 1969), a fourteen year old girl (played brilliantly by new comer Hailee Steinfeld) sets out to hire a gunslinger to find and shoot down the dastardly cad (Josh Brolin) who murdered her father in cold blood. Among the candidates for the job is a legendary but somewhat cantankerous codger by the name of Rooster Cogburn (wonderfully played by Jeff Bridges). Also along for the ride is Texas Ranger LaBoeuf (hilariously played by Matt Damon) whose interest in Steinfeld's prey is decidedly different. Alongside The Social Network, True Grit stands out as the best written film of the year. Obviously, I didn't grow up in the old west, but the authenticity the Coens bring to this film is astonishing, both in terms of spoken word (just watch an early scene in which a tenacious Steinfeld barters with a stubborn local over money she feels she's owed) and the movie's overall look (the art direction by Stefan Dechant and Christina Ann Wilson is picture perfect while Roger Deakins' cinematography is positively gorgeous). The performances are stellar right across the board and as is typical in a Coen Brothers movie, each time a character pops up on the screen, it's as if the story suddenly becomes focused on that particular character. So focused that I can honestly say I'd like to see an individual film made about each of these colorful characters. Barry Pepper in particular creates a wonderfully textured baddie, and why no one has made mention of his fantastic work here is beyond me. I suppose what surprised me most about this outstanding movie is the Coen's old fashioned approach to the material. Certainly these sibling geniuses inject a bit of their offbeat sensibility into the proceedings and they don't shy away from offering up their trademark bursts of spontaneous violence, but for the most part, this solid western is appropriately old fashioned and feels like it might have been made in the 50's. It's fitting that True Grit is a classic tale of revenge, because with it, the Coen Brothers are back with a vengeance.