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Rating: 4.5 out of 5
My dad loves John Wayne movies. Growing up, Wayne was one of my dad’s favorite actors. If it wasn’t a war movie he was watching, you could bet your ass that The Duke was a close second on his list. I really never got into John Wayne films as I really didn’t think too much of the western genre. My all-time favorite western is still The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. One reason for that is because of the theme song. You know the tune. Such a classic tune.
I will say that I watched the 2010 adaptation of True Grit way before the 1969 version. Jeff Bridges did an outstanding job in that one, and the tone was darker. I was intrigued to watch the 1969 version as it was the role that Wayne won his first Academy Award in. I was expecting the usual western film where Wayne plays some lawman who needs to protect a town or have some epic fight against Indians on the trail. The whole stereotypical western film. Wayne plays a lawman but not one where you think, and a mission that he takes is one with many funny turns. Also, this film has a lot of old stars in it.
In 1880, in the lands of Dardanelle, Yell County, decent farmer Frank Ross heads with his employee Tom Chaney (Corey) to Fort Smith to buy some ponies. Tom Chaney gets into a heated card game during a night out where he loses money and thinks people are cheating him. Frank comes and gets him and pulls him out of the saloon. As they talk, Chaney pulls his shotgun on Frank, guns him down in the middle of the street, and then steals his money while fleeing into the Indian Territory. Frank’s young daughter Mattie (Darby), who is the bookkeeper for the family, travels with one of their employees to bring her father back home to be buried. While they are in town, a hanging takes place, which Mattie has never seen. Calling upon her inner Drake, Mattie decides that she’s looking for revenge. She seeks out the sheriff, who tells her that he has no authority in Indian Territory. She asks for the best marshal. His recommendation is Reuben J. “Rooster” Cogburn (Wayne), an eyepatch-sporting, hard-drinking fellow who has the grit to bring back the most brutal criminals around. Mattie decides to hire Rooster, and when they are about to depart, Texas Ranger La Boeuf (Campbell) lets Rooster know there’s a massive reward for Tom Chaney in Texas for a senator’s murder. He is willing to split that reward with him. With the team put together, they ride off to find Chaney and bring him to justice.
You know what, I actually found this film really freakin entertaining. One of the main reasons it was entertaining was because of the performance of John Wayne as Reuben J. “Rooster” Cogburn. Wayne showed Rooster as a US Marshal who bends the rules, drinks hard, and upholds the law. Wayne’s presence in this film actually made it worthwhile to watch. This film could’ve been an absolute bore if it wasn’t for Wayne. With his eye patch and bottle of liquor in one hand and a gun in the other, Rooster usually took the law in his own hands and seemed to make everything justifiable. Case in point! When he was sitting in the courthouse, and the lawyer asked how many people he shot, he answered that he shot like 7-10 people. He looked the lawyer square in his face and was like, “yup, I shot them because they were shooting at me.” Listen, Rooster will bring you back to get hanged, but if you cause trouble for him, he’s gonna shoot you. Wayne did a marvelous job with Rooster by showing the character does have a caring heart. No matter for his tough exterior, when Mattie was bitten, he raced through the lands to get her to a doctor and really showed concern for her well-being, but he did also take a party’s wagon. Still breaking those rules.
Now for the story. I would say that it was meh, but for the most part, it was pretty entertaining to see Mattie find Rooster, hire him and get her revenge. First off, Tom Chaney shot Mattie’s dad down like a dog when he was trying to help him. Didn’t need to do all that. Yet, the first half of the whole film is Mattie trying to track down Rooster and get money for his services. Let me tell you, Mattie is a straight-up HUSTLER!! Behind the threat that she throws out, “I’ll have my lawyer, J. Noble Daggett, be in touch,” Mattie plays no games. The way she hustled that one dude with buying back her daddy’s horses was an art. When she stayed at that hotel, she made sure she didn’t pay over what she thought was fair. Even when Rooster tried to hustle her, she even outsmarted him.
Now, the second half of the film is where it’s at. We see Rooster, La Boeuf and Mattie, track down Tom Chaney and Lucky Ned Pepper. Mattie was annoying during this part because she wanted justice so bad that she actually became a liability. Some scenes during this part were fun to watch. First, when the group discovers horse thieves Emmett Quincy and Moon, who are waiting for Pepper at a remote dugout cabin. Cogburn tells them to give up, and he has fifty men, which is a blatant lie. Rather than force his way in, he smokes them out and captures them. He interrogates them men and uses one of their injuries to leverage information. During this scene, shit escalates quickly when Quincy slams the sharp end of a Bowie knife down on Moon’s hand to shut him up, severing four of his fingers, then stabs Moon in the chest. Cogburn instantly shoots Quincy to death. The scene doesn’t let up because when Pepper’s men arrive, there is a shootout where Pepper sacrifices one of his men to save his own skin.
Now the climax of the film is where it’s at. First, Mattie goes down some hill once again to get in trouble and runs into Tom Chaney, of all people. It was like a “what’s up, gurl! What you doing here?” moment. Mattie, like the fuck up she is, pulls a gun and manages to shoot Chaney, only for Pepper and his men to turn away Rooster. Yet that’s not the best part. The best part of the film is Rooster vs. Pepper and three other men. An actual 4 V 1 situation. This scene is iconic because one, the cinematography of it being in this wide-open field is mwah, but we also get some iconic lines. Rooster states that he intends to take Pepper and watch him hang or shoot him right there. Pepper’s response with the classic burn, “I call that bold talk for a one-eyed fat man.” The look on Rooster’s face was PRICELESS when he said that. It’s the look of, “I know this bitch ass muthasucka didn’t say what I think he said.” Rooster responded with the classic line, “Fill your hand, you son-of-a-bitch!” Homeboy puts his reigns in his mouth, strapped with two guns, and rides off to fight everyone. An amazing western scene.
Now for the others who acted in this film. First, let’s talk about Kim Darby as Mattie Ross. I like how she played the no-nonsense girl who wanted revenge and never took no as an answer. Yet, most of the time, I found her incredibly annoying. It got to the point where it seemed like she caused more harm than good. She seemed to be so impatient that someone should’ve slapped her. Actually, someone did but calm down, girl and let the pros deal with it. Glen Campbell as La Boeuf was okay. I wasn’t too impressed with his role, and he just seemed to be there or in the background. He was a rival, but he played second fiddle to Wayne and maybe others. Yo! This film also has Robert Duvall and Dennis Hopper. I wasn’t expecting Hopper to be in this movie.
True Grit is the film that is mainly known for bringing John Wayne his Academy Award. Wayne’s presence in the film is larger than life, and he makes this film go. The rest of the cast is good, but they play second fiddle to Wayne. The story is decent as it’s not really your stereotypical western film, but the climax is funny but also awesome. Have fun watching a hard-drinking Marshal track down a killer, and you better fill your hand!
