Delayed Reaction: True Grit

Premise: A girl hires a drunken, nasty US Marshal to capture her father's murderer.

Comparisons are not favorable for this movie. Odds are, if you know if this movie it is because the Coen brothers remade it in 2010 with Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, and Matt Damon. Otherwise, you know it as the movie that finally earned John Wayne his Oscar. If not for those two things, this would be forgotten to time as this odd cowboy artifact that crashed the New Hollywood party in 1969.

Cards on the table, I like just about everything about the 2010 movie better than the original. It's the first one I saw, which is a bigger factor than I like to admit to preferring something. Hailee Steinfeld is phenomenal. Jeff Bridges adds a little more dirt to his Rooster Cogburn. And, in general, the Coens' dark humor lends itself more to the story and setting. So, when I watched the original movie, I spent most of the time thinking about how I liked that scene better in the remake.

That's not to say the original is bad. I'd probably be quite impressed with the poise of Kim Darby's Mattie Ross if I didn't have Steinfeld's Oscar nominated comparison in my head. The original still has names like Robert Duvall and Dennis Hopper in supporting roles, which is pretty fun. Glen Campbell's La Boeuf has a good mix of sleaze and charm. The beats of the story itself are good no matter when the movie was made.

Like in 1969 though, the story of this movie is John Wayne. I think you had to live through the era to appreciate John Wayne. I know he was THE movie star of the time. I've seen a decent number of his movies. I don't really get what's so great about him though. That's not to say I doubt it. I just imagine it'll be like explaining Tom Cruise to someone in 30 years. Wayne is more movie star than actor, so you need to experience the excitement of a new John Wayne movie getting released to get what the fuss is. Rooster Cogburn isn't his best role. I don't think I've heard anyone describe it as anything but a lifetime achievement Oscar, and good for him. How many people really win their Oscars for their best roles? There is something ill-fitting about John Wayne in this. Cogburn isn't immediately heroic. He's a drunk and is infamous for how quick he is to kill the men he's after, yet by the end of the movie, he's showing that his true colors are unambiguously heroic. It feels like this was made in a post Bonnie and Clyde attempt to fit in with the new film era that was about to give Best Picture to an X-rated film (Midnight Cowboy), but it eventually gave into its Old Hollywood studio system DNA for the final product. I haven't read the novel, but something tells me that last scene of the movie doesn't happen like that in the book.

Verdict: Weakly Recommend