The strong points of his film: 1. John Wayne (obviously) creating an aging, burnt out rogue turned lawman. Often remarked as "John Wayne playing (or parodying) himself," but this is hardly true - in fact, Rooster Cogburn is one of the four or so moments in Wayne's career when he completely loses himself in the character he plays. He plays no false note here, none that isn't purely and clearly "Rooster Cogburn."
2. The story here is tight (sprawling only because the manhunt in the wild demands it), neatly constructed, and, with the occasional Hollywood touches, very faithful to the novel by Charles Portis - if one must criticize the dialog, one should start by criticizing Portis' book, because the dialog is almost entirely his. Portis' theme, the coming of age of a one-track prudish farm-girl in a world of outrageous and violent men of the "Old West" remains largely intact, and remains fascinating.
3. Supporting cast: strong performances throughout, especially by Strother Martin as a harried horse-trader and Robert Duvall as the wily outlaw Ned Pepper.
4. Memorable scenes: If a film should be judged by how much one remembers of it - with pleasure, "True Grit" scores high. Every other scene sticks with one for some reason or other - the horse-haggling scene, the court-room scene, Mattie's visits to Rooster in the Chinaman's shop - one just goes on and on remembering these scenes, and many others.
Weak points: 1. Glen Campbell; hoping to play the same trick Hawks did by hiring Rick Nelson and Dean Martin for "Rio Bravo" Hathaway cast a young inexperienced singer to play the role of a tough Texas Ranger, and of course it doesn't work. Fortunately, although he sings the title track, the film itself is never paused to allow him an encore. Still, although I don't really find Campbell's performance all that annoying. He's a walking piece of wood, no doubt, but an amiable one, and he gets the job done.
2. Similarly, the music on the soundtrack doesn't really fit the material; it tries hard - too hard - to be dramatic, but this film requires a quietly folksy touch, not crescendos. Not surprising, with the exception of the final shoot-out - which would survive most any musical background, the best moments of the film have little or no musical comment.
3. Editing: although competent, it is rather perfunctory, as if the editors aren't quite clear on what they're supposed to do with the material. There a a couple major editing flubs, such as in the final scene between Mattie and Chaney that are a bit irritating.
The problematic - aspects of the film that leave one undecided or even a bit queasy: 1. The cinematography: although Lucien Ballard could not fail to do beautiful landscapes, his work here is overall a bit flat in composition and definition. One needs to compare his work here with what he accomplished the same year in Peckinpah's "The Wild Bunch" to see what I mean. Peckinpah was, at his best, a director who knew exactly what he wanted to see on the screen, and Ballard gives it to him. Hathaway comes from an older tradition that let the cameraman shoot the scene once the director had properly set it up. This leaves Ballard trying to shoot a 'traditional Western,' but "True Grit" is not a 'traditional Western,' despite Wayne's presence.
2. Kim Darby - although remarking Darby as having a limited range as an actress is being rather generous, the fact is in this film she is quite well cast - she is out of her element, but so is Mattie Ross. She is rather plain for an actress, and she certainly looks barely out of her teens , and acts it too. She finds it rather easy to project the necessary innocence (and indolence) of her prudish, determined character, but she does have one major weakness, a tendency to excitability that appears more anxious than determined.
3. The direction: A director's chore is to find some way to turn a story into a vision, and Hathaway just isn't up to that here. The story, the theme, most of the performances, the well-photographed landscape, all fill in when Hathawy's direction lapses, but the fact remains that driving the film is the script and Hathaway as director at best stays out of its way, rather than contributing to it.
Overall, one of the best stories brought to the screen, admirably fleshed out by Wayne and supporting cast. Weaknesses and problems are easily forgiven and forgotten as the narrative pulls us along to a satisfying bravura conclusion.
2. The story here is tight (sprawling only because the manhunt in the wild demands it), neatly constructed, and, with the occasional Hollywood touches, very faithful to the novel by Charles Portis - if one must criticize the dialog, one should start by criticizing Portis' book, because the dialog is almost entirely his. Portis' theme, the coming of age of a one-track prudish farm-girl in a world of outrageous and violent men of the "Old West" remains largely intact, and remains fascinating.
3. Supporting cast: strong performances throughout, especially by Strother Martin as a harried horse-trader and Robert Duvall as the wily outlaw Ned Pepper.
4. Memorable scenes: If a film should be judged by how much one remembers of it - with pleasure, "True Grit" scores high. Every other scene sticks with one for some reason or other - the horse-haggling scene, the court-room scene, Mattie's visits to Rooster in the Chinaman's shop - one just goes on and on remembering these scenes, and many others.
Weak points: 1. Glen Campbell; hoping to play the same trick Hawks did by hiring Rick Nelson and Dean Martin for "Rio Bravo" Hathaway cast a young inexperienced singer to play the role of a tough Texas Ranger, and of course it doesn't work. Fortunately, although he sings the title track, the film itself is never paused to allow him an encore. Still, although I don't really find Campbell's performance all that annoying. He's a walking piece of wood, no doubt, but an amiable one, and he gets the job done.
2. Similarly, the music on the soundtrack doesn't really fit the material; it tries hard - too hard - to be dramatic, but this film requires a quietly folksy touch, not crescendos. Not surprising, with the exception of the final shoot-out - which would survive most any musical background, the best moments of the film have little or no musical comment.
3. Editing: although competent, it is rather perfunctory, as if the editors aren't quite clear on what they're supposed to do with the material. There a a couple major editing flubs, such as in the final scene between Mattie and Chaney that are a bit irritating.
The problematic - aspects of the film that leave one undecided or even a bit queasy: 1. The cinematography: although Lucien Ballard could not fail to do beautiful landscapes, his work here is overall a bit flat in composition and definition. One needs to compare his work here with what he accomplished the same year in Peckinpah's "The Wild Bunch" to see what I mean. Peckinpah was, at his best, a director who knew exactly what he wanted to see on the screen, and Ballard gives it to him. Hathaway comes from an older tradition that let the cameraman shoot the scene once the director had properly set it up. This leaves Ballard trying to shoot a 'traditional Western,' but "True Grit" is not a 'traditional Western,' despite Wayne's presence.
2. Kim Darby - although remarking Darby as having a limited range as an actress is being rather generous, the fact is in this film she is quite well cast - she is out of her element, but so is Mattie Ross. She is rather plain for an actress, and she certainly looks barely out of her teens , and acts it too. She finds it rather easy to project the necessary innocence (and indolence) of her prudish, determined character, but she does have one major weakness, a tendency to excitability that appears more anxious than determined.
3. The direction: A director's chore is to find some way to turn a story into a vision, and Hathaway just isn't up to that here. The story, the theme, most of the performances, the well-photographed landscape, all fill in when Hathawy's direction lapses, but the fact remains that driving the film is the script and Hathaway as director at best stays out of its way, rather than contributing to it.
Overall, one of the best stories brought to the screen, admirably fleshed out by Wayne and supporting cast. Weaknesses and problems are easily forgiven and forgotten as the narrative pulls us along to a satisfying bravura conclusion.