What do I like about this is the bleak atmosphere. I went in expecting lots of the usual bizarre Coen Brothers comedy but there's just not enough of it. Jeff Bridges I suppose played Cogburn closer to the US Marshall character the book's character was based on, but he's not a damn bit likeable, unlike the lovable warhouse in the John Wayne original version. The only redeeming bit is the final act of valiance near the end, but I still don't like him. The girl playing Mattie Ross is a bit too sweet and fey fo the role and displays none of the spunk of Pamela Brady in the 1969 version. I suppose I shouldn't compare, and I know I shouldn't have watched the Wayne version before this.
Good points - this is about the only Matt Damon role I like - sinister paedophiliac undertones (watching Mattie as she sleeps, the glee in the spanking scene), ambivalence about the quarry, the love-hate with Cogburn, the Southern stoicism. LaBouef comes across now as a pretty complex character, unlike Glen Campbell's portrayal who was a one-dimensional fodder for the Duke to bounce off. Love the bearskin doctor but there's only a few minutes of him. It's still very authentic to Frontiersland, like out of a Cormac McCarthy novel. I only wished the Coens made it more their own film, instead of being mostly literal to the book. 7.5/10.