# Anyone else anxious to see True Grit? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 10, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-anxious-to-see-true-grit/563670 "2010-12-10T16:23:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-anxious-to-see-true-grit/563670/21 "2010-12-11T00:27:24Z")
> [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](#): > > Well, I’ll be a dissenting voice. I thought the original movie was good enough that no remake is necessary. I have no plans to see it anytime soon. You can not remake a \*\*John Wayne \*\* movie. The remake will always be terrible by comparison. You might as well try to remake **Gone with the Wind**. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-anxious-to-see-true-grit/563670/22 "2010-12-11T01:24:45Z")
I could not be more psyched. I love westerns, really love the Coen brothers, and absolutely fucking adore Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon. It’s like they’re pandering to me, and I’m going to hopefully see it on opening day. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-anxious-to-see-true-grit/563670/23 "2010-12-11T02:04:05Z")
Will people please stop complaining about this being a “REMAKE” of a John Wayne movie? It’s not a remake of anything. It’s a new adaptation of the novel. Big difference. Gus Van Sant’s _Psycho was a remake. The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3_ was a remake. \*The Longest Yard \*was a remake. Complaining about them “remaking” _True Grit_ is as misguided as complaining about any film version of “A Christmas Carol” that has come out since 1901’s _[Scrooge, or Marley’s Ghost](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrooge,_or,_Marley%27s_Ghost)_. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-anxious-to-see-true-grit/563670/24 "2010-12-11T02:34:24Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Will people please stop complaining about this being a “REMAKE” of a John Wayne movie? It’s not a remake of anything. It’s a new adaptation of the novel. Big difference. Not really, in this case. The first movie followed the book almost line-for-line (up until the very end, where it diverged). According to statements by Matt Damon, this new version is supposed to be “truer” to the book. Don’t know how it could be truer to the book without also following the novel line-for-line _and_ using the novel’s ending. Which means it will look an awful lot like a remake to anyone who has seen the John Wayne film. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-anxious-to-see-true-grit/563670/25 "2010-12-11T03:03:50Z")
> [@Susanann](#): > > You can not remake a \*\*John Wayne \*\* movie. The remake will always be terrible by comparison. You might as well try to remake **Gone with the Wind**. The Duke was in Gone with the Wind?😕 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-anxious-to-see-true-grit/563670/26 "2010-12-11T03:30:25Z")
> [@Susanann](#): > > You can not remake a \*\*John Wayne \*\* movie. The remake will always be terrible by comparison. You might as well try to remake **Gone with the Wind**. Yesh, I know. But is is a Charles Portis story. I’ll just keep that in mind while I watch. I wish he still had the Navy Colt and the Winchester when he charges the bad guys, though. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-anxious-to-see-true-grit/563670/27 "2010-12-11T03:45:38Z")
> [@Susanann](#): > > You can not remake a \*\*John Wayne \*\* movie. The remake will always be terrible by comparison. You might as well try to remake **Gone with the Wind**. You never know. While I agree that it was a good movie, and Wayne played his role well, you never know. The Coen’s are known for originality, after all. I’m likely to stroll into a theater for the first time in years to watch this. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-anxious-to-see-true-grit/563670/28 "2010-12-11T04:31:14Z")
> [@Susanann](#): > > You can not remake a \*\*John Wayne \*\* movie. [Tell that to John Wayne.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_Lobo) ---
**Author:** ![oliversarmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/eb8c5e/32.png) [@oliversarmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oliversarmy)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-anxious-to-see-true-grit/563670/29 "2010-12-11T04:42:55Z")
“I call that bold talk for a one-eyed fat man.” Yes, I will see it. Quibble about Glen Campbell all you want, it was a great movie and I expect the same from the Coens’. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-anxious-to-see-true-grit/563670/30 "2010-12-11T04:43:14Z")
All summer and fall I’ve been muttering about how there could be no conceivable reason to do a remake of the John Wayne movie. After all, it was in color and everything. And “I also notice that the men of Texas . . . cultivate their hair like lettuce” can only be said of Glen Campbell in 1969. But the trailer for this new one has me rethinking my position. One thing that was always very striking about the original was the dialogue, which eschewed contractions and even elliptical phrases in a way that sounds very curious to our ears—even moreso to those of us very familiar with the Oklahoma-Arkansas border region. I wonder if Portis had supporting evidence for writing the dialogue in such a way. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-anxious-to-see-true-grit/563670/31 "2010-12-11T06:12:59Z")
> [@Mr\_Downtown](#): > > One thing that was always very striking about the original was the dialogue, which eschewed contractions and even elliptical phrases in a way that sounds very curious to our ears—even moreso to those of us very familiar with the Oklahoma-Arkansas border region. I wonder if Portis had supporting evidence for writing the dialogue in such a way. He lives here, dude. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-anxious-to-see-true-grit/563670/32 "2010-12-11T06:14:23Z")
> [@Patch](#): > > [Tell that to John Wayne.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_Lobo) Your point being? 🙂 This forum requires that you wait 60 seconds between posts. Please try again in 5 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-anxious-to-see-true-grit/563670/33 "2010-12-11T14:38:48Z")
Originally Posted by Susanann You can not remake a John Wayne movie. > [@Patch](#): > > [Tell that to John Wayne.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_Lobo) Of course, John Wayne can do whatever he wants. It is that **nobody else** can do a remake of any John Wayne movie. It has been attempted before, like trying to redo Stagecoach. We cant watch any remake of any John Wayne movie without thinking of John Wayne being in it. There is only “1” Ringo Kid. There is only “1” old, drunken, hard nosed, cantankerous, AND lovable, Marshall Rooster Cogburn who can swing a Winchester 92 with one hand while charging full gallop on a horse. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-anxious-to-see-true-grit/563670/34 "2010-12-11T15:07:55Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > The trailer looks _awesome_. I’m definitely looking forward to it. Hope Bridges bags a second Oscar. But I must insist the movie include the classic line, “I call that bold talk for a one-eyed fat man!” > > Previous thread: [The Coen Brothers' next movie: True Grit - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=545887) Something about that line. . .maybe it’s Robert Duvall. Everything’s better with Duvall, even as old as he is now. Maybe it’s the combination of the line and Duvall - two great things that go great together. Also, I want the line, “Fill your hands, you son-of-a-bitch!” Again, the line and the actor. I’ve grown to have great respect for Jeff Bridges, so I think he could make it work for him, even if he isn’t Wayne. Two of the best lines in cinema. I worry about the scene where Rooster faces off with Ned Pepper’s gang. That’s such an iconic scene that Arnold mimicked it in T2, with the rifle on the motorcycle. I’ve fully been in favor of this project, but I wonder if I can put the original out of my mind so I can fully enjoy this. I guess if the Coens do their job, I will. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-anxious-to-see-true-grit/563670/35 "2010-12-11T19:28:18Z")
> [@Susanann](#): > > Originally Posted by Susanann > You can not remake a John Wayne movie. > > Of course, John Wayne can do whatever he wants. > > It is that **nobody else** can do a remake of any John Wayne movie. It has been attempted before, like trying to redo Stagecoach. > We cant watch any remake of any John Wayne movie without thinking of John Wayne being in it. There is only “1” Ringo Kid. > > There is only “1” old, drunken, hard nosed, cantankerous, AND lovable, Marshall Rooster Cogburn who can swing a Winchester 92 with one hand while charging full gallop on a horse. You are absolutely right. And thank somebody there’s only 1 Glen Campbell. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-anxious-to-see-true-grit/563670/36 "2010-12-11T21:17:25Z")
There’s got to be some kind of generational divide, or maybe it’s just me, but I’m simply not impressed by that scene. Yeah, they’re good lines, but Wayne’s delivery is less than impressive. He may be the Duke and all, but I can’t see how Jeff Bridges won’t be far better. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-anxious-to-see-true-grit/563670/37 "2010-12-11T21:23:46Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > There’s got to be some kind of generational divide, or maybe it’s just me, but I’m simply not impressed by that scene. I think it is not so much Wayne as the point where the character turns from being humorous and becomes heroic. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-anxious-to-see-true-grit/563670/38 "2010-12-11T21:35:41Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I think it is not so much Wayne as the point where the character turns from being humorous and becomes heroic. Exactly. For much of the movie Rooster had been a drunken buffoon, whose glory days were far FAR behind him, which is why Mattie, who had hired him based on his former reputation, was able to hire him for a pittance and insist that she go along for the capture (edit to add, he couldn’t turn her down because he needed the money, any money). At this point, he finally becomes the man he used to be, cocky, fearless and recklessly heroic. It’s a great moment. Not just for Wayne, but for the character of Rooster Cogburn. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-anxious-to-see-true-grit/563670/39 "2010-12-11T22:34:08Z")
> [@Susanann](#): > > We cant watch any remake of any John Wayne movie without thinking of John Wayne being in it. Obviously some of us from the generation who remembers John Wayne can, and there will be a whole new generation, a few generations, of people who only vaguely know the name of John Wayne who can. I’m beginning to think that John Wayne fans are scared that this new movie will be so good, and Bridges so iconic in the role, that Wayne’s characterization will be relegated to an asterisk footnote in movie history. The original will always be available for those who seek it out, and people will still be discovering it in the future. I myself don’t want the original to be forgotten, I do love it so. Wayne’s Cogburn isn’t the only character who needs to be remembered. Kim Darby’s Mattie is so very good, and Duvall’s Pepper, and Strother Martin in his tiny role? Wow. No, I’m right there with you on the love of the original, but not to the point where I disdain the very thought of another version. I’m sure I’d feel different if it weren’t the Coen Brothers and Jeff Bridges. If it were being made by a hack director with some 3rd tier actor, then I’d be alternately screaming and sulking too. > [@Susanann](#): > > There is only “1” old, drunken, hard nosed, cantankerous, AND lovable, Marshall Rooster Cogburn who can swing a Winchester 92 with one hand while charging full gallop on a horse. And now there’ll be two. There’s room enough for both. I was on my Touch when I posted my earlier post and didn’t post links. Here’s the [Rotten Tomatoes link for True Grit](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/true-grit-2010/). There were only 8 reviews when I posted before, now there are 10, but it’s still at 100%. It won’t stay there, if only for the John Wayne fans who are itching to bring it down, but I’m still happy to see it so high so early. I mentioned Best Of/Top 10 of 2010 lists but didn’t include links. Here’s the main one I was remembering, [Peter Travers from Rolling Stone magazine’s Top 10](http://www.awardsdaily.com/2010/12/peter-travers-top-10-films-of-2010/) (that link also has his Top 10s back to 1999). His is a very predictable, mainstream, Oscar-friendly list, but there’s nothing wrong with that in my eyes, because they’re all good movies, and True Grit is in very good company here: 1. The Social Network 2. Inception 3. The King’s Speech 4. True Grit 5. The Kids Are All Right 6. 127 Hours 7. Black Swan 8. The Fighter 9. Winter’s Bone 10. Toy Story 3 That’s the only one I can find at the moment, but most lists haven’t been released yet, plus a lot of critics haven’t yet seen True Grit. It’s only just started screening. As far as Oscar talk links, I don’t remember where, it’s just general chatter. It could be wishful thinking too. We’ll see. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-anxious-to-see-true-grit/563670/40 "2010-12-11T22:59:32Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > and Strother Martin in his tiny role? Wow. Yeah. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-anxious-to-see-true-grit/563670.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-anxious-to-see-true-grit/563670.md?page=3)