++++
Grit, like any other admirable human quality, comes with a price, and the truer it is, the higher the cost. That's what Charles Portis seemed to say in the book on which this film is based. But that's not what Hathaway and screenwriter Marguerite Roberts say, and perhaps that's what's wrong with this movie -- if indeed there is anything wrong with it. This, from start to finish, is a wonderful film. Kim Darby shines as young Mattie Ross, a girl whose strength, determination, and moral fiber won't let her take the murder of her father sitting down. John Wayne is so perfectly cast as the toughest, most trigger-happy Federal Marshall Mattie can find to track the killer that he won the Best Actor Academy Award for his performance. Glen Campbell, better known as a singer, of course, is just fine as a Texas Ranger who is after the same man for reasons of his own. With great dialogue (often lifted straight from the novel), lots of humor, and plenty of action. But, for what it's worth, this is a softer version of Portis' book, one with, ironically, a bigger heart that may be, deep inside, the littlest bit hollow. Also with Dennis Hopper and Robert Duval. Remade in 2010 by the Coen brothers.
Grit, like any other admirable human quality, comes with a price, and the truer it is, the higher the cost. That's what Charles Portis seemed to say in the book on which this film is based. But that's not what Hathaway and screenwriter Marguerite Roberts say, and perhaps that's what's wrong with this movie -- if indeed there is anything wrong with it. This, from start to finish, is a wonderful film. Kim Darby shines as young Mattie Ross, a girl whose strength, determination, and moral fiber won't let her take the murder of her father sitting down. John Wayne is so perfectly cast as the toughest, most trigger-happy Federal Marshall Mattie can find to track the killer that he won the Best Actor Academy Award for his performance. Glen Campbell, better known as a singer, of course, is just fine as a Texas Ranger who is after the same man for reasons of his own. With great dialogue (often lifted straight from the novel), lots of humor, and plenty of action. But, for what it's worth, this is a softer version of Portis' book, one with, ironically, a bigger heart that may be, deep inside, the littlest bit hollow. Also with Dennis Hopper and Robert Duval. Remade in 2010 by the Coen brothers.
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