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laura_seabrook
Saw True Grit on Wednesday. I was surprised with just how good the film was.
Haven't read the book that both this film and the 1969 version were based on, but this film version seems to be a fuller, more believable account. I absolutely did not recognise Matt Damon as Texas Ranger LaBoeuf! Of course many scenes are shared with the 1969 version and the film includes the classic "Fill your hands you son of a bitch!" line from Rooster Cogburn.
I read somewhere, and I think it's true, that a big difference between this and the earlier version is that the focus on the story is firmly on Matty Ross, not Cogburn, who though a major character, is a supporting one. Some elements are entirely different. For example, in the 1969 version, after threatening everyone and sundry with her lawyer, we finally get to see him and discover him to be a short weedy man with a high pitched voice!
There's a good reason that never happens in this version, but I won't spoil this for you. Suffice it to say that scenes towards the end of the film reminded me of certain French films, and are better for that. More like Dead Man and The Grey Fox than the previous film, which is a GOOD THING.
