"True Grit"
By CBS News.com producer David Morgan
The film opens on the body of a man shot to death outside a boarding house in post-Civil War Fort Smith, Ark. "People do not give it credence that a young girl could leave home and go off in the wintertime to avenge her father's blood, but it did happen," says the narrator - a woman of clear-eyed determination and saucy spirit who does not suffer fools or dandies. And she knows it: "If Papa had a failing it was his kindly disposition; I did not get my mean streak from him."
MATTIE: "You misjudge me if you think I am silly enough to give you fifty dollars and simply watch you ride off."
COGBURN: "I am a bonded U.S. marshal!"
MATTIE: "That weighs but little with me. I will see the thing done. ..."
COGBURN: "I cannot go up against Ned Pepper and a band of hard men and look after a baby at the same time."
The film is a fond embrace of the conventions of movie western lore, colored by the Coens Brothers' elegant language and craftsmanship. Mattie's tale - in which retribution is sought with the clinical precision of a sales contract - is a parable of America's expansion west, and of the frontier myth recreated through entertainment, whether it's a wild west show or a Hollywood film.
Joel and Ethan Coen
Jeff Bridges
Matt Damon
Hailee Steinfeld
Josh Brolin
Roger Deakins
Oscar Nominations:
Production designer: Jess Gonchor
Set Decorator: Nancy Haigh
Damon "Wouldn't Change a Frame" of "True Grit"
Hailee Steinfeld's "True Grit" Debut Hailee Steinfeld: The Star-Struck Star
Matt Damon: The Incognito Celebrity
Review: Coen Brothers Bring Wit, Grit to the Wild West
Photos: Matt Damon
Photos: Jeff Bridges
Photos: Hailee Steinfeld
"True Grit" (Official Movie Website)
"For Your Consideration" (Paramount Website)
"True Grit" - Screenplay by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, based on the novel by Charles Portis (Download pdf)