True Grit

Arkansas in 1872. Indian country. This is where Tom Chaney has sought refuge. He’s on the run from fourteen-year-old Mattie Ross, the daughter of the farmer he has just shot dead. She is determined to bring her father’s murderer before a court of law – and her determination is unshakable. She turns to Marshal Rooster Cogburn – a man whose fame precedes him – for help. And no wonder, the man has brought down no fewer than twenty-three men in just four years of service but, so Cogburn, ‘none that didn’t deserve it.’ An obstinate, boozy and one-eyed individual with wild hair, an eye-patch and worn-out clothes, Cogburn doesn’t exactly give the appearance of being particularly reliable. But Mattie is looking for something special. She’s looking for ‘true grit’ – the determination to see something through to the bitter end. Reluctantly, Cogburn allows Mattie to convince him to take her along on the hunt for Chaney across the lawless expanse of the prairie. But they are not alone – Texas ranger LaBoeuf is also after the fugitive because there’s a price on his head. Before long, Mattie comes dangerously close to her father’s murderer …
Based on the titular novel by southern writer Charles Portis, TRUE GRIT was first adapted in 1969 by Henry Hathaway with John Wayne as Cogburn. It has taken the Coen brothers, however, to recreate on screen the unique tone of the novel which is told through Mattie’s eyes. Speaking in 1996 of this narrative voice, US writer George Pelecanos wrote: “Mattie’s voice, wry and sure, is one of the great creations of modern fiction. I put it up there with Huck Finn's and that is not hyperbole.”