True Grit
Directors: Joel and Ethan Cohen
2010
9 June 2025
See
14 year-old Maddie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) is the daughter of a rancher murdered by his ranch hand, Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). She sets out to collect her father’s body and settle his affairs, but when she learns that the sheriff won’t pursue the fugitive, she offers a bounty to bring him to justice. Rooster Cogburn is the US marshal chosen for the job because he’s mean and uncompromising. They’re joined in their adventure by Texas ranger LaBoeuf (Matt Damon) who has long pursued Chaney.
Think
Set in 1878 in Arkansas, the trio travel into the Choctaw Indian territory. Cogburn’s gruffness comes out even more than in the semblance of civilisation at Fort Smith, where he was constantly drinking and uncouth, even when giving evidence in court.
But before the rule of law there was might makes right, and as LaBeouf waxes lyrical, the difference between right and wrong, morals and the law was established on the frontier, way out west, there are no rules except those tested by outlaws and enforced by lawmen.
He and LaBeouf are constantly at odds, because the ranger is straighty 180, from his righteous code to his fringed jacket and riding spurs. Maddie is in the middle and constantly has to fight for her place and to demonstrate her value, not only is she sharp tongued and quickwitted but proves to be the most uncompromising as they criss cross and lose track of the trail of the Lucky Ned Pepper (Barry Pepper) gang, who Chaney has fallen in with.
Feel
It’s the friends you make along the way that keep you going when you don’t know where to next, not just the desire for revenge that’ll fuel you forward. The story is deceptively simple, awe inspiring moments are foretold like Cogburn riding at opponents with horse reins between his teeth, a gun firing from both hands. Or LaBeouf firing a shot from his rifle at over 300 yards. Even Maddie finally confronting Chaney, and beware of snake pits. The dialouge is excellent, the performances perfect. The Coen brothers craft is flawless, the cinematography sumptuously shot on film by Roger Deakins before he switched to digital. But it’s the epilogue that gets me every time. Years later, you never forget such formative experiences.
The Western genre has been revitalised of late, with hit machine Tayler Sheridan’s cowboy streaming series. I’m more partial to the Jim Harrison style of story about America’s founding myths, structure around dysfunctional family like Legends of the Fall, or romantic about native American Indians like Dances with Wolves. But this one, adapted from a novel by Charles Portis, is as good as it gets and I constantly return to it. I don’t think there’s been a better or more relatable Western yet.
