RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Media The Dude plays The Duke

Excuse me, but aren't you the same poster who insists that every film is a success due to DVD/video sales and TV airings?

Ooh, burn!

Ooh, burn!

Yes, I am a moron!

Fuck. Yes.

G-Man, we await your admission of error...

....Cogburn is, in many ways, Wayne's signature role and he made the character his own. Not unlike, say, Eastwood and Dirty Harry.

That being said, I think Bridges could play the character well. It wouldn't be John Wayne's Rooster Cogburn but it could be a lot of fun.

I could've killed you, Dick. I could've killed you...

Jeff Bridges is such a cool, accomplished actor, it's hard to believe he would be starring in a remake and a sequel in the same year. Let alone the same month.

Bridges plays crusty U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn in Joel and Ethan Coen's new take on "True Grit," which opens nationwide Wednesday. He also plays computer whiz Kevin Flynn in "Tron: Legacy," the digital, 3-D extravaganza that opened Friday. (To complete his busy December, he's also slated to host "Saturday Night Live" tonight.)

"Tron" is a fun ride and reprises a role Bridges originated in 1982. But it was the news that he was reuniting with the Coen brothers that generated the most anticipatory movie buzz. Their sole previous collaboration, 12 years ago, resulted in the much beloved "The Big Lebowski."

For some, Bridges will only and always be the Dude, the philosophical, White Russian-swilling, weed-inhaling, rug-seeking bowling enthusiast.

The classic film, with John Goodman, Julianne Moore and Steve Buscemi, left a trail of festivals, books, clubs, catchphrases -- "The Dude abides" -- and a religion: The Church of the Latter Day Dude (or Dudeism). Earlier this month, a revival screening of "The Big Lebowski" at the Cedar Lee in Cleveland Heights outdrew the theater's five first-run movies combined. What's Bridges' take on all that?

"I know I'm partial, but for one thing, it's just a great movie," Bridges said on the phone from Los Angeles.

"I'm one of those guys who watches TV with my clicker well in hand and when I come across a movie like 'The Godfather,' I think, well I'll just watch a couple of scenes. Then I get hooked. The same thing happens to me if I come across 'Lebowski.' I get hooked and have to see it through to the end.

"I think there's also a special thing, as with most cult films, that when people first saw 'Lebowski,' they kind of stumbled on it. There wasn't too much hype. It wasn't a big hit when it first came out. So there's that added pleasure of discovering something without having it shoved down your throat. Now it's 'What, you haven't seen "Lebowski!" You're kidding me!' And, it's a movie you can watch over and over again. You glean different little bits of enjoyment every time you see it."

As the legend grew, the question became when the prolific Coens would reunite with their Dude?

But the brothers and Bridges were busy with other projects. Since "Lebowski," Bridges has made more than a dozen films, including "The Contender," "Seabiscuit," and "Iron Man." Last March, after four previous nominations, he won the best-actor Oscar for playing broken-down country singer Bad Blake in "Crazy Heart." By then, he had already circled back to the Coens.

"I remember running into both Joel and Ethan at a party a few years ago, and they said they were interested in doing a Western and maybe we could work on something together."

That something became "True Grit."

The first film version of Charles Portis' 1968 novel, about young Mattie Ross seeking her father's killer in 1870s Arkansas, was released in 1969. Directed by Henry Hathaway, it starred John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn, Kim Darby as Mattie and Glen Campbell as Texas Ranger La Boeuf. It's a well-made, entertaining Western best known for winning Wayne his only Oscar as the drunken, trigger-happy, eye-patch-wearing marshal.

The notion of the Coen brothers -- the dark duo behind "Fargo," "Raising Arizona" and "No Country for Old Men" -- remaking a John Wayne movie sounded bizarre.

"I had the exact same reaction," said Bridges. "I said, 'I know you guys were talking about making a Western, but hasn't this one been done?' They said, 'We're not remaking the movie, we're making the book.' Then I read the book and I saw what they were talking about. The Charles Portis novel reads like a Coen brothers script. It's so wonderful. And I was so relieved when they said they were basing it on the book, and not referencing the movie, so I didn't have to reference the movie."

The Coens' version also stars Matt Damon as La Boeuf, Josh Brolin as murderer Tom Chaney and newcomer Hailee Steinfeld (13 when filming started) as Mattie.

"Hailee was so impressive," said Bridges. "I was very concerned about who we were going to get to play that part, because she's the star of the film, we're telling her story, and it's a difficult role for even a seasoned actor. I can remember how excited I was after completing our first day together and seeing that she was totally up the challenge."

Steinfeld was recently nominated for a Screen Actors Guild award and could be in the upcoming Oscar mix as well.

"And she's such a sweet person," Bridges added. "I think that speaks to her parents raising her so well. She's a gorgeous girl who really enjoys being the age she is. She turned 14 on the set, so she's still a young girl. But she's not champing at the bit to be 25."

Bridges, who just turned 61, said winning the Oscar has not dramatically altered his career. The best things to come out of the whole "Crazy Heart" experience, he said, was being able to work on songs with producer T. Bone Burnett (Bridges will release an album next year), and that it heightened his "fame quotient" to speak out on causes such as the campaign to end childhood hunger in America called No Kid Hungry.

He also finds himself at an interesting crossroads for the movie industry.

On one side is "True Grit," a beautifully told literary Western shot in the best tradition of classic filmmaking. On the other is "Tron: Legacy," a 3-D, digital, CGI confection with video game tie-ins that can be viewed on giant Imax screens.

"It's fascinating. We had to do a reshoot for 'Tron' about a week after 'True Grit.' I had the same makeup man on both. So one day, he's putting dust all over me for the Old West, and the next minute he's putting black dots on my face so I can do some performance-capture stuff. You know, it's making movies with no cameras at all, and no sets, and no costumes. Everything is done in post-production."

What does that mean for the performer?

"It requires a whole new batch of acting skills," he said. "In a funny sense, it's actually more primitive because you've got to go back to when you were a kid. You don't have all the great sets to rely on. You just have your imagination."

I don't know who the girl is, but I thought it was a midget for a moment. She sounds about twenty-years-older than she looks. Perfect.