The sheer joy of seeing John Wayne and Glen Campbell (who sings the lovely opening melody of the movie) on the screen makes the entire endeavor an apriori classic. The Western “True Grit” jumps at you with simplicity and profundity all at once interweaving humorous dialogues with deep discourses on the human condition.
This 1969 classic (there is a 2010 adaptation with Jeff Bridges that I have not yet seen) tells the story of Frank Ross, an honorable man, who is murdered and whose possessions are taken by his hireling, Tom Chaney. His daughter, Mattie Ross, played by the spunky Kim Darby, is eager to bring Ross to justice, preferably to be hung in Fort Smith. She hires the U.S. Marshal Reuben “Rooster” Cogburn, played by the magnificent John Wayne. Mattie’s persuasiveness and persistence allow her to raise funds to hire Rooster.
Nevertheless, Rooster’s drunken lifestyle conflicts with his reputation as a man with “true grit.” The conflict plays throughout the movie and by the end is gladly solved. Still, Maddie sees in this self-aggrandizing lawman the hope to bring her father’s murder to justice. In the process of procuring a way to bring her father’s murder to justice, a Texas Ranger, La Boeuf, enters the scene as one looking for the same Tom Chaney. The character played by Glen Campbell is a charming and yet equally persistent figure who will stop at nothing to bring back Chaney into custody.
When La Boeuf and Rooster discover that there is much more money involved in the Chaney pursuit than what the young Mattie is willing to offer, they decide to team up and go in search of Tom Chaney. However, Mattie is not easily beaten and follows them. La Boeuf and Rooster do everything to ditch Mattie, but give in to her sweet perseverance.
From that moment, the three begin a mission to find Tom Chaney. They encounter a host of iconic outlaws. The entire dangerous narrative binds the three together in different ways. Most striking is Rooster’s fatherly care for Mattie that culminates in the closing scenes of the movie. The additional humorous exchanges between the two form an unmatched father/daughter relationship.
La Boeuf becomes a much more central figure in the movie than I expected. He embraces a protector role that secures this intriguing combination of characters into an inseparable body of justice seekers.
There are several redemptive factors at play: Rooster Cogburn often seeking his own welfare is redeemed through the love of a young lady whose quest for justice brings his own affairs into proper order. La Boeuf is redeemed not through the bounty reserved for his conquest, but through a life of sacrifice for the least of these. Mattie finds redemption as she gains two father figures to replace her murdered father. God restores her house in double portion.
Perhaps most striking is the ability the movie has to bring characters from completely different backgrounds to join a mission. The Gospel narrative is the original copy of such a mission. In Christ, the Church unites strange characters from every tribe, tongue, and nation to participate in a sacred mission to bring justice to the nations by the power of the One who sacrificed everything that we might be one. In the paternal affection of our Father in heaven, redeemed humans restore the homeless and fatherless to their true purpose in life.
