On this belated episode, we are talking about both versions of the Charlie Portis novel True Grit! The original, from 1969, is famously the film that won John Wayne his Oscar, and the 2010 remake from the Coen Brothers! Both are great, as it turns out, and surprisingly similar in a number of ways (largely owing to the use of Portis’ dialogue, we assume, having not read the original book). Both are largely esteemed classics of the genre, well worth your time, although they’re so beloved you’ve probably seen one or both already. Topics of conversation include a merciless comparison of each film’s lead performance (in which Dad discovers a new appreciation of Kim Darby), a few digressions on the Coens filmography, the popularity of Jeff Bridges’ performance as Rooster Cogburn and his attempts to reuse it in the following years, and a fair number of impersonations, of Bridges, Wayne, Robert Duvall, and Josh Brolin’s mush-mouthed villain Tom Chaney. Thanks for waiting for us on our late holiday schedule!
We talk a little about current Western projects to keep an eye on, and other recent viewings (Dad’s umpteenth viewing of A Christmas Story, and my appreciation of Guillermo del Toro’s latest, a interspecies romance set during the Red Scare, The Shape of Water. In the next episode of Westerns With Dad, we’ll be talking about a barely known Canadian TV movie entitled Ebenezer, a Western-set Christmas Carol retelling starring Jack Palance! Who knows how that’ll go!
True Grit 1969 stars John Wayne, Kim Darby, Glen Campbell and Robert Duvall. True Grit 2010 stars Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, Matt Damon and Josh Brolin.
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Full disclosure, I’m a huge fan of John Wayne. Although, this is not my favorite movie or character that Wayne has played.
I didn’t expect the remake to be nearly as good as the original. Similar to 3:10 to Yuma, where the remake was at least equal to the original movie. A case could be made that these remakes are arguably better than their originals. More so for this one than 3:10 to Yuma.
I happened to come across Portis’ novel at a used book sale and decided to pick it up. I recently actually read it and was really surprised to see how close to the book the movies were.
The biggest story point I noticed that was in the novel, but not in the movie was Rooster’s backstory. In the book Rooster was in the Civil War, who has done some disreputable things. He then went on crime spree where he meets an old friend, while on the run. This friend, a minor criminal turned marshal vouches for Rooster so he can become a Marshall. This puts Rooster on the right side of the law. This story was relayed to Mattie during their trek to find Lucky Ned’s gang.
The primary reason Mattie Ross does not like LaBoeuf, is because he wants to take Chaney to hang in Texas for the murder of a Senator’s dog. Mattie wants Chaney to hang in Fort Smith, AR for the crime of killing her father. She feels she is owed more justice than a rich man’s dog. And, she has already paid Rooster to accomplish this. We see that she gets what she has paid for in the negotiations for her father’s ponies!
I would recommend the book, it is a very quick and engrossing book. It becomes hard to put down once started.
I would say, I love the original (because of Wayne), but the remake is a better film, primarily because of Steinfeld. I would go with 3.5 for the 1969 and 4.5 for the 2010 version.