Last* of the Oscar best film contenders: True Grit and why it needs subtitles

Can True Grit knock The King's Speech off the top perch of the films short-listed for this year's best film gong?

Well there is a slim chance the Academy might still decide 'yes' but in my humble opinion the answer is, sadly, 'no'.

Its trailer pretty much gives you the story: 14-year old  Mattie hires a grizzly, whiskey drinking Marshall to help her track down her father's murderer.

And the main problem is that it feels slow to get going. It takes a long time for Mattie played very well by newcomer Hailee Steinfield and Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to hit the trail of the murderer Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin).

There is an indulgently long court room scene to establish that Rooster is indeed a grizzly, whiskey-drinking Marshall who has no qualms about shooting those he pursues. Then a long time for Mattie, albeit with a skill beyond her years, to negotiate a deal firstly to sell back some horses her father had bought and then to secure the services of Rooster having rejected those of the more clean-living, by-the-book Marshall LaBeouf (Matt Damon).

And all this isn't helped by the fact that Bridges as Rooster speaks with a gravelly, southern American drawl - the sort of delivery that is achieved by barely opening the mouth - and is therefore only partially intelligable.