There were two iconic moments in both movie versions of “True Grit.” In the first, gutsy young heroine Mattie Ross enlists help by accosting the hard-bitten, one-eyed U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn, aka John Wayne, declaring: “I hear you have true grit.” In the other, Rooster puts his reins in his teeth and gallops full speed, alone with his two guns blazing, straight into a phalanx of villains. It’s not just one of the most famous showdowns. It’s one of the most enduring scenes of any kind ever in the history of the medium.
| IF YOU GO |
| ‘True Grit’ |
| 4 out of 5 Stars |
| » Stars: Hailee Steinfeld, Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin |
| » Directord: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen |
| » Rated PG-13 for some intense sequences of western violence including disturbing images. |
| » Running Time: 110 minutes |
Did the classic 1969 Western really need to be remade? Who cares?
In their rousing adaptation of the Charles Portis novel, the directing-writing-producing team of Joel and Ethan Coen preserve those spine-tingling moments, the spur-and-hoof motifs, the majestically rugged settings and then some. They add more realistic grittiness to their “True Grit,” minus the retro Hollywood sheen. And they make a familiar story of Old West revenge their own by using just the right, controlled amount of the Coen Brothers patented wry attitude.
In the same way, Jeff Bridges exorcises the ghost of Wayne’s indelible creation — boozy, determined and reluctantly (but at the core) decent — and makes Rooster Cogburn his own too. Wayne played those character traits as a beloved, larger-than-life movie star personality would. Bridges plays them as a genius, chameleonic actor does.
Amazingly, Bridges gets matched scene-for-scene by Hailee Steinfeld, the debuting actress who portrays the precocious 14-year-old Mattie. This little girl anchors a big honking production but never cedes a moment to the experienced hotdogs around her.
“True Grit’s” simple plot reminds us why Westerns used to have such mass appeal. It’s an unambiguous question of good and evil in a romanticized era when you could still tip the scales of justice yourself.
Mattie’s father was killed in a random act by bad guy Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). She hires Rooster to bring him down. They are joined on Tom’s trail by earnest Texas Ranger LaBoeuf (a nimbly droll Matt Damon), who was already after him for the bounty on his head. By the time the unlikely posse meets up with Tom and his gang, lead by Lucky Ned Pepper (played, appropriately, by Barry Pepper), you are right there in the saddle with them.
Without resorting to sentimentality or manipulation, the Coens invest us in the action and cap off a diverse R-rated filmography with this exciting, enjoyable PG-13 genre piece.
