John Wayne finally got an Oscar for his performance as Rooster Cogburn in this film and he deserved it. True Grit is about a young girl who seeks revenge on the man that killed and robbed her father. She bribes Federal Marshall Cogburn to go after the man with Glen "Bad Mugshot" Campbell in tow as a Texas Ranger hunting the same man.
Wayne seems to be playing a crustier version of himself at this point in his life. Rooster's demeanor appears to be that life had ridden him hard and put him away wet. Overused seems to come to mind and Wayne gives probably one of the best performances of his life.
Featuring a young Dennis Hopper and a young Robert Duvall True Grit was Wayne' swan song, mainly because most of his output after this film (excluding the Shootist) just wasn't up to snuff. It also rang the last call bell on the great American western (as opposed to the Italian influenced westerns) mainly with the deaths of Howard Hawks, John Ford, and eventually John Wayne himself.
This film was going to be a four start affair, but I had to bump up a half a star because of the appearance of screen legend and personal guru Strother Martin.
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