TRUE GRIT (*****)

Dir: Joel & Ethan Coen. Starring: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld

I am an unabashed devotee of the Coen brothers. I love the perfection of their films, and I love the imperfections too. I'm also aware that some find them, not to put too fine a point on it, a bit smart-assy.
No such problems here.
The last thing I'd ever have expected from the Coens was a remake of an old John Wayne movie, even if the remake takes the original book as its source rather than the film. And what they have done is make not only a far superior film, but also create a classic Western, one with humour, gravitas and – most surprisingly for the Coens – an almost complete absence of irony.
True Grit tells the story of plucky 14 year old Matty, whose father has been murdered. She sets out to bring the killer (Josh Brolin) to justice, picking up as help Bridges' ornery old sheriff and Damon's amusingly self-regarding Texas Ranger. Together they set off into the badlands of the old west.
What you end up with is a beautifully-written story, taking a lot of its dialogue straight from the book but including moments of strangeness that would not seem out of place in Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man.
You also have at least two brilliant central turns: Bridges is pure magic, slowly revealing complexities and compassion while remaining true and believable. And Hailee Steinfeld, not much older than her tough young character, is a wonder. The cinematography is superb. The music is touching. The whole thing is pretty much as perfect as they come.

There's no denying it: Unstoppable (***) is an undoubtedly well-oiled piece of fluff. Denzel Washington is the grizzled old railroad guy, about to be laid off. Chris Pine is the cocky newcomer, first day at work. And there's a runaway train full of dangerous chemicals about to hit a major town. Oh, and there's a train full of schoolkids too… It's complete crap of course, but it's excitingly made, with director Tony Scott's usual over-adrenalized mix of saturated colours and fast editing. In fact, it looks a lot like Pelham 123, the director's previous, also train-set, film. Turn it up, eat popcorn, have a good time.
A French gangster pic starring the epically cool Jean Reno – what's not to like? 22 Bullets (***) is something of a French Point Blank as Reno's Charly Mattei, a former Marseilles mafioso godfather, is gunned down with the titular munitions. But it wouldn't be much of a story if he didn't survive and set about exacting revenge. So it's not the most original tale – 'I try to get out, but they keep pulling me back in” – but it's all done with slick French style, Marseilles looking fabulous and providing an unusually colourful multicultural backdrop.
With its exotic Bangkok location and interesting pairing of Djimon Hounsou and Kevin Bacon, Elephant White (**) suggests it could be more than the routine – and not a little silly – action outing it is. Hounsou's ex-mercenary killer gets a taste for assassinating nasty sex-trading gang members after being hired to avenge a businessman's daughter. Bacon (bizarrely and iffily playing English) supplies large guns and there's a vaguely irritating girl who hangs around acting weirdly. Despite a strong visual sense, this is trashy stuff: beneath an attractive surface lurks a script, story, and mystical undercurrents that would embarrass even Steven Segal.
After burning down an abandoned farmhouse, a disturbed Amber heard is thrown in the world's weirdest psychiatric hospital in John Carpenter's The Ward (**). The only inmates seem to be five cute young girls (in full perfect make-up), and a supernatural monster is stalking them. Or perhaps it's all in someone's imagination. Despite being long on atmosphere – the music, as in all Carpenter films, is particularly effective – this is so hopelessly short on logic that seasoned viewers will be completely unsurprised by the final, wholly unoriginal ‘big reveal'.