I expected True Grit to be a great movie. I expected it to be extraordinarily well-cast. I expected it to be bloody. But I did not expect for it to be so damn funny. The film is loaded with a very dry and sarcastic wit, the dialogue at least half-full of some very clever put-downs. Our main characters are all very smart and sharp-tongued, but just as importantly, they have the brass to back up their tough talk.

To be perfectly clear, this is not an excessively gory movie or one that delights in showing the murder onscreen. In fact, the gunfights are pretty straightforward: A gun goes bang, a guy falls dead and that’s the end of it. Yes, the film is a revenge story that demands our antagonist die, but this movie is not about the action. It’s about three hardasses who bicker and banter as they form an unlikely alliance to hunt down a common enemy. And one of their number is a fourteen-year-old girl.

In a year that’s already seen the discoveries of such talented young starlets as Chloe Moretz and Jennifer Lawrence, we can now add Hailee Steinfield to that list as well. I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz for Steinfield to get a Best Supporting Actress nod, but anything less than a nom for Best Actress would be a sham (I know she’d still lose to Natalie Portman and God knows I wouldn’t complain about that, but come on!). She constantly drives the plot forward as protagonist Mattie Ross, appearing in every one of the movie’s scenes. Far more importantly, she plays her role with greater strength and intelligence than most of the adults in the picture. Mattie has her moments of vulnerability and the movie never completely forgets that she’s just a girl in her early teens, but Mattie is also headstrong and able to get herself out of any argument or predicament through sheer determination alone. Steinfield plays all of this so damn well that she can more than hold her own against such seasoned vets as Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon. If that’s not a mark of talent in a teenaged newcomer, I don’t know what is.

Speaking of Jeff Bridges, he is of course phenomenal. Bridges plays Reuben “Rooster” Cogburn as a true shitkicker. This guy simply does not give a fuck. He’s overflowing with attitude and drunkenness in equal measure, all backed by a mean tongue and a talented (if unsteady) hand with a gun. But of course, the true test and the ultimate summation of his performance here is in how he handled this scene. He was charged with delivering that famous line without resorting to parody or imitation of the legendary John Wayne in his Oscar-winning role. That’s a very tall order, even for such a great acting talent as Bridges, but don’t think that he can’t do it. He did it. Just wait until you see how he did it. In fact, I guarantee you that if John Wayne hadn’t already made that line famous, Jeff Bridges would have (though I’ll grant that the score in the background may have helped him a bit).

As for Matt Damon, he gets the thankless role of playing the straight man against Bridges. These two men are totally different in their styles and agendas, particularly as Damon’s Texas Ranger LaBoeuf is much more sober and concerned with the law than Cogburn is. The two spend most of their screen time figuratively comparing dicks, though these are two actors who know how to constantly bicker in a way that’s fun to watch, especially when the dialogue is written this well. Their shooting contest with cornbread pigeons is probably my favorite example of a scene that would totally fall flat but for the beautiful symphony of talent that makes it amusing to watch.

Josh Brolin is also in this movie as their target, the notorious man who goes by Tom Chaney, among other names. I was expecting Brolin to play a truly awesome cowboy, partly to atone for Jonah Hex. Instead, Brolin does something very different here. He doesn’t get a lot of screentime or character development as Chaney is mostly an offscreen presence, though a very effective one. Still, Brolin does make an impression, playing Chaney as if desperate for money or shelter from the law. Moreover, Chaney is rather blatantly portrayed as someone who doesn’t have all his marbles, though it’s quite a matter of ambiguity if this stupidity is simply part of Chaney’s act.

I feel I should also mention Barry Pepper, who has a small yet serviceably played part as the gangster “Lucky” Ned Pepper. I admit that I’ve taken a shine to Pepper (the actor) ever since I saw his outstanding turn in Saving Private Ryan. Now, seeing him get such plum roles as those in Casino Jack, the videogame “Prototype” and in this film, I’m personally sort of glad to see that he’s done serving his time for Battlefield: Earth. I think it will be quite interesting to see where his career will go from here.

Anyway, I’ve already spoken at length about the Coen Brothers’ script and how the dialogue is so sharp and so funny. Yet part of what makes the script so great is in the editing. This film is edited in such a way that it seems like the guy in the editing booth was in on the joke. Half of this movie’s humor is in how the film cuts away precisely at the most embarrassing time possible. It’s like the cutaway is the scene’s punchline. Additionally, the editor works wonderfully with the Coen Brothers to keep the film tightly paced and moving at a solid clip through the complete running time. To that end, I give major kudos to the editor, Mister… *goes to check IMDB* Roderick Jaynes, who is actually a pseudonym for Joel and Ethan Coen. Why am I even surprised?

As to the visuals, this film has camera work by Roger Deakins. He’s easily one of the best cinematographers in the business and he can do no wrong when paired with the Coens. What more do I need to say?

True Grit is a sardonically funny movie powered by two phenomenal actors, a young newcomer on her way to greatness and two directors at the top of their game. It’s an amazing movie and I highly recommend it.