True Grit

True Grit is a 2010 American Western film written and directed by the Coen brothers. It is the second adaptation of Charles Portis' 1968 novel of the same name, which was previously adapted for film in 1969 starring John Wayne. The film stars Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross, and Jeff Bridges as U.S. Marshal Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn along with Matt Damon and Josh Brolin.



Plot:
The film is narrated by the adult Mattie Ross (Elizabeth Marvel), who recounts that in the late fall of 1877, when she was 14, her father was murdered in Fort Smith, Arkansas by one of his hired hands, Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). Chaney made off with her father's horses and two of his California gold pieces. While collecting her father's body, young Mattie (Hailee Steinfeld) inquires about a Deputy U.S. Marshal to hire to track down Chaney. She is given three recommendations, but chooses to hire Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), because he is described as the most merciless. He repeatedly rebuffs her attempts to hire him, believing that she doesn't have the $50 with which to pay him.

Meanwhile, at the boarding house where she is staying, Texas Ranger LaBoeuf (Matt Damon) arrives on the trail of Chaney. LaBoeuf has been pursuing him for several months over a murder in Texas. He proposes to Mattie that they should team up with Cogburn, since the Marshal knows the Choctaw terrain where Chaney is hiding, while LaBoeuf knows how the man is most likely to behave. Mattie rejects LaBoeuf's offer, because he would take Chaney back to Texas to be hanged for the prior murder (in exchange for a large cash reward), instead of her father's. After finally securing Cogburn's services for $100, Mattie is instructed to meet him the following morning to begin the search for Chaney. Instead of meeting her, though, Cogburn leaves her train ticket and a note telling her to go home, while he goes to apprehend Chaney.