True Grit

True Grit is the remake of the John Wayne classic that tells the story of a girl named Mattie Ross who is searching for her father's murderer during the 1800's in the Wild West. She follows his trail to a town where she meets a U.S. Marshal named Rooster Cogburn and she attempts to hire him to help capture her father's killer. Rooster doesn't want to take the case at first but then ultimately decides to go ahead and go after the man. Along the way Rooster and Mattie run into a Texas Ranger named LaBoeuf who is trying to catch the same killer because he shot and killed a Texas Senator. The two lawmen and Mattie form an unlikely friendship as they make their way across the desert in search of the killer Tom Chaney.

When I first saw the previews for True Grit I wasn't too thrilled about seeing it, mainly because it was a remake of one of my favorite John Wayne movies, and most remakes (with a few exceptions) don't live up to how good the original was. Once I saw it though, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I've heard True Grit described as a 'dark' and gritty film. I have to disagree with that description. Movies like The Dark Knight I would consider 'dark' because of the subject matter and other things within the movie. I would say that True Grit is more of a light-hearted, sometimes comical, action/western film. It has its moments that I would consider 'dark' but overall it is not that way.

A lot of people have said that both the latest Coen brothers' version and the John Wayne version are so different from each other that they can't really be compared. I partially agree with that statement. They are very different in the way the story is portrayed since the Coen brothers' version stays more true to the book rather than to John Wayne's version; however, they are basically the same story so I think you can compare the two. With that said, while I loved this version of True Grit and I recommend that everybody go see it if you haven't yet, I still prefer John Wayne's version. Let's face it: You just can't beat The Duke.