True Grit

    The 2010 film True Grit is a remake of the 1969 Western classic starring John Wayne and Robert Duvall. This film tells the tale of a young girl who's father is murdered in cold blood, and set for retribution, she goes on a dangerous adventure hunting down her father's killer with a washed up alcoholic bounty hunter. This film contains a very popular cast consisting of Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, and finally Maddie, the true protagonist is portrayed by Hailee Steinfeld. True Grit's Western narrative begins in Fort Smith, Arkansas, where Maddie is in town collecting her father's body and possessions. After she gets into town, Maddie has a change of heart and realizes what she must do to fix the wrong that the murderer Tom Chaney, and that is to hunt down and take Chaney dead or alive. In order to help her on this wild goose chase, Maddie goes through town searching for the best bounty hunter to enlist to help her capture Tom Chaney once and for all. After finally finding who some told her to be the best around, Maddie hires Rooster Cogburn, who's truly an old incompetent drunkard. In the beginning of their journey, Rooster attempts to leave Maddie behind and bring along Texas Ranger LaBoeuf, but Maddie chases after them and convinces them to bring her on their trip. This is where the true adventure begins for our main characters.
    Although, Rooster . In the beginning of their time spent trying to find Chaney, Maddie claimed Rooster had "true grit", which is by definition, courage, honor, bravery, and other characteristics of a truly heroic person. As the movie progresses and we see the disposition of each character, it is clear to the audience that someone does indeed have "true grit", and that character is Maddie. For the entire time Maddie is with Rooster, she was always helping him up when he was down and putting him in his place when need be, and most importantly, unlike Rooster, she never gave up. In one of the climactic moments in the movie, when Rooster gives up on their mission, Maddie desperately tries to continue their search and doesn't plan on stopping until she has Tom Chaney. Although Maddie is a seemingly harmless little girl, the idea of true grit is deeply rooted in her and shown through her character traits and actions in the film. This film to me is one of the most entertaining Western classics and this remake only made it hold up more in modern times. Another unique part about this film is the main characters themselves, Maddie and Rooster. Normally in Western classics the man is portrayed as the typical male hero who is extremely moral and a role model for all, and they save the damsel in distress, and in this film it's truly the other way around. We see a smart and brave young girl go on a deadly mission in the frontier to capture a murderer. Having a young girl take this role in a film is interesting because it doesn't happen all that often, and makes this movie special in it's own way. This is not only one of the most excellent Westerns in the past few years, but it is also an outstanding remake and it deserves all the love it gets.