Forty years later, the Coen brothers brought their vision to this American masterpiece of fiction.  I was very excited, especially by the casting.  Finally, Mattie being played by an actress of appropriate age!  Jeff Bridges as Rooster!  Matt Damon (be still my foolish heart...) as LaBeouf!  The postscript of Mattie as an adult!

 

The new version was far better in terms of acting, cinematography, music.  The new version was more faithful to the book in developing the characters of Rooster and Mattie.  And yet, and yet... I was deeply dismayed at the liberties the new version took with the original story.  The Coens made a lot of story changes, added characters and scenes that, IMHO, did nothing for the plot, and took out scenes that I found particularly moving and important in the book. 

 

I cannot help but compare both versions to the book as well as to each other.  The JW version was more true to the original story than was the Coen version.  Though superior in every other way, the Coen version, again IMHO, made a big mistake messing so much with the story.