Here are what some of the sites I follow had to say about True Grit:
From The Ludovico Technique (full review):

It’s just a shame to see the Coen Brothers abandon their tenacity and hard-edged cynicism in favor of folksy charm. With True Grit, they’ve made an accessible, spunky little western-comedy that’s as beautifully composed and formally presentable as they come – it’s also about as empty as those glass whiskey bottles that a scruffy Rooster Cogburn so casually discards.

From Not Just Movies (full review):

Just as the filmmaking duo put Cormac McCarthy’s anti-thriller on the screen with remarkable fealty, they adapt Charles Portis’ novel faithfully, more faithfully than the 1969 film starring John Wayne. Portis’ book is a light read, enjoyable but sprinkled with contradictions it never addresses. In sticking to the letter of the novel, the Coens transpose those issues and undermine them without turning the material against itself.

From The Dark of the Matinee (full review):

This movie takes those Coen-isms and dots a grim and classic tale with them. In many ways it contains touchstones of all their greatest films, while still being very faithful to the source material. While flawed, the resulting tale of payback is a sobering look at a desire for justice the law cannot provide, and the sort of damage it can do to a person’s conscience.

From Random Ramblings of a Demented Doorknob (full review):

Still, the third act wasn’t a complete waste. Unlike No Country, there were some redeeming factors in its finale. And the overall film was definitely worth seeing. Between the writing and humor, the good cinematography, and the (mostly) great acting and directing, True Grit is a fine western. Was it my favorite western I’d seen this month? No, but it wasn’t the worst, either. I say it’s pretty far up there in the most enjoyable, though.

And of course, from Manohla Dargis from the New York Times (full review):

[The Coens] have been surprisingly faithful to the tone and idiomatic tang of Mr. Portis’s novel, perhaps because its worldview suits their ironic purposes. The whiskey-soaked Rooster still likes to “pull a cork,” as he does in the book, and the Coens and Mr. Bridges get into the boozy spirit of things with slurs and pratfalls.

What did you think of True Grit?

The film was written by Joel and Ethan and is their second feature film, after their Sundance movie Blood Simple became a hit.  Why, in God’s name, they would choose to make this movie when so much hinged on it, is beyond me.  And that is why I am not in the moving making business.  Raising Arizona has a certified fresh rating of 89% on RottenTomatoes.com (although, it only received 50% approval from top critics–only six reviews counted).

I did not understand the humor for the most part.  The only actor who illicited an audible laugh was Holly Hunter, whom I thought was marvelous.  The rest of the cast, Nic Cage (technically this was the time he was using his entire first name), John Goodman, even Frances McDormand didn’t really do much for me.  Since I’ve seen all these actors in other films, and I’ve been quite pleased by their performances, I’d have to blame my dislike of the film on the script by the Coen brothers.  It’s simply not to my taste.  And when the bounty hunter, motorcycle man of death came on the scene, I pretty much mentally checked out.

I just didn’t get it.

I will say, that it took me three viewings to finally jump on board The Big Lebowski.  I don’t remember hating that film as much as this, but I will reserve final judgemental until I’ve seen Raising Arizona one more time.  Until then, I’m going to stick with the Coens’ dramas.

1 out of 4 stars

The cast is largely made up of unknown faces.  The protagonist, Larry Gobnik, is played by Michael Stuhlbarg.  He’s a Jewish physics professor in the mid-west in 1967.  His son is a unambituous pothead, his daughter is mostly absentee, his unemployeed brother is sleeping on his couch (and grossing the family out by constantly draining a cyst on his neck), and his wife has announced she’s leaving him for Sy, a pompous acquaintance.  Larry is forced to move into a local motel, just as he is up for tenure, his son is about to have his bar mitzvahs, his goy neighbors are trying to build on his land, and his divorce attorney is expensive.  This all is creating tremendous emotional and financial stress.  Larry seeks the help of a respected Rabbi, seeking clarity in his confusion, to find out what God is trying to say.  Each Rabbi has his own advice to give, but it’s not advice worth anything.

The film begins in a 19th century Polish village, where a famous Jewish anecdote is played out.  It doesn’t really seem to belong to the film except to underscore the disillusionment in religion that is quite eloquently illustrated throughout the rest of the film.  It’s an odd choice to start out a film with, but here, it really works.  The Coen’s penned the original screenplay, and it delivers the biting wit and memorable characters that we’ve come to expect.  Larry is the everyman, confused and earnest.  It’s easy to invest in his character since he’s so very relatable.

The photography of A Serious Man is confident and distinct thanks to cinematography Roger Deakins (who remarkably worked on Doubt, Revolutionary Road and The Reader in just the past year).  A Serious Man is the strongest of the Coens’ rather large body of work, and is one of the finest films so far this year.

3.5 out of 4 stars

The Coen brothers supply the film with a terrific, clockwork script (the kind we’ve learned to expect from them) that shows their fascination with those who fatally act first, before learning all the facts.  Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt lead the whole cast with their comedic prowess.  Pitt is a good actor, there’s no doubt, but his best roles are the ones of the stupid pretty boy, and Burn is the perfect example.  The rest of the cast seems to be a who’s who of the acting world (Tilda Swinton, despite being involved in that Narnia nonsense, must have joined this esteemed rank as of her Oscar win earlier this year).

The plot is so complicated (and I don’t want to give away any spoilers), a summary isn’t really possible.  At the end, it doesn’t make a whole lot of a sense, but suffice it to say, this film is terrifically funny, and you should watch it.

3 out of 4 stars

Rottentomatoes: 78% – Cream of the Crop: 54%

Below is the ‘approved for all audiences’ trailer, and the redband trailer (squeamish be warned).