“True Grit” is a western drama that stars Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn, a tough, smart and merciless U.S. Marshall that doesn’t want to get involved with other people’s stuff. Matt Damon plays a young, argumentative Texas Ranger named LaBoeuf. Hailee Steinfield stars as Mattie Ross, a 14-year-old girl, who wants Rooster Cogburn to help her find Tom Chaney, played by Josh Brolin, an outlaw worker for her dad who stole her horses and murdered her father. LaBoeuf, who has been chasing Chaney for months, suggests that they all team up. Mattie, although, wants no part of it. She begs Cogburn to help her find and kill Chaney, but he leaves her stranded. Mattie decides to go after Cogburn, where she is pulled across a river by her horse showing her own “true grit”. Cogburn and LaBoeuf agree to help her, but since both men hate each other, LaBoeuf often leaves them throughout the movie, but always comes back. One of the best action scenes comes when LaBoeuf has to be rescued from a gang of bad guys and Rooster Cogburn accidentally shoots him. At the climax of the movie, there is a big gun fight, where LaBoeuf saves Cogburn’s life. At the very end of the movie, Mattie, now, forty years old, played by Elizabeth Marvel, goes to see Cogburn to thank him, but she learns that she is too late, because he has died.
This movie was a remake of an earlier movie, made in 1969, starring John Wayne. The 2010 version was directed by the Coen Brothers. The Coen Brothers have done other famous films, such as “Fargo” and “Raising Arizona”. “True Grit” is up for eight Academy Awards, including Jeff Bridges for Actor in a Leading Role and Hailee Steinfield for Actress in a Supporting Role. Every moment of the movie should be credited to the acting talents of Jeff Bridges and Hailee Steinfield. They will be remembered for their roles in this film for a long time. The Coen Brothers did an excellent job directing this movie, from the great script and acting, to the beautiful scenery, great editing and sounds of what could happen in the 1900s. They had a great time filming this and it can be seen on screen, from the poetic language to the extraordinary gun fights at the end of the movie.
I think “True Grit” was a very dramatic movie, there were a lot of great action scenes, but my favorite part was a funny moment where LaBoeuf and Cogburn had a corn bread shooting contest. I have never seen the original version, so this is all new to me. I would like to see it sometime soon, so I can make a comparison between the two movies. I would especially recommend it to those of you who haven’t seen a western movie before or for those of you who just want to see great acting. I wouldn’t have changed anything about it if I were the director.