Movie Review: True Grit - PG13

Fourteen-year-old Mattie Ross wants to avenge her father's murder by tracking down the man who killed him, Tom Chaney.   She wants him to be tried, but she can't bring him in alone, so she hires drunken U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges).   They find themselves racing against Texas Ranger La Boeuf (Matt Damon, who wants to bring Chaney back to Texas to be tried for another  crime.

Hailee Steinfeld was excellent as Mattie.  It was entertaining to watch how her 14 year-old character interacted with the older adult characters.  Jeff Bridges was most impressive as he was able to transform himself into the character of Cogburn.  Matt Damon was good as La Boeuf, but I think Damon is really at his best when he is the central character, as in the Bourne movies,  The Informant or Hereafter.

I didn't see the original True Grit, but my mother told me this version  was quite true to the original.  My 13 year-old nephews liked it a lot.

There were a couple of gory scenes, but the scene I found most disturbing was when a horse died toward the end.

It was a well-done, entertaining movie.

http://www.truegritmovie.com/