The screenplay True Grit Essay

The screenplay True Grit is a new screen adaptation by Joel and Ethan Coen based on the novel of the famous American writer Charles Portis written in 1968. It is known that the movie was released by Paramount Pictures in 2010. According to the statistical data, this movie which has the same title with the book True Grit was a great success with the public.
SYNOPSIS
The story is not new, it is told by Mattie Ross, a fourteen year old girl whose father was killed by one of the criminals for two pieces of gold. The major goal of Mattie Ross was to capture Torn Chaney, her father’s killer. The girl decided to find a person who would be able to help her to do it. She was told that a one-eyed US Marshal who was known as a person of strong character and as a fierce criminals’ persecutor could help her to find Torn Chaney and put him into prison or to kill him.
Marshal Rooster Cogburn accepted the girls proposal who promised him to pay $100, and set out on a search for Torn Chaney, the killer of Mattie’s father. There was another person who also had a great desire to find Torn Chaney. Taxes Ranger LaBoeuf accompanied Mattie and Marshal Rooster Cogburn. Their dangerous adventure had the only outcome – to punish the criminal. They moved to the Indian territory where Torn Chaney and his friends had a shelter in the mountains. They met a lot of obstacles on their way: dead body on the tree, two criminals in the hut who were shot during the gunfight, a quarrel between Rooster Cogburn and LaBoeuf. Finally, Mattie met her father’s killer at the river. She could not kill him as she had only one bullet in her gun. Ned Pepper, the leader of the gang captured her. Fortunately, the old Marshal saved her and together with LaBoeuf they killed all the members of the gang including Torn Chaney. Mattie shot her father’s killer herself. However, the girl got into the hole where there were a lot of snakes. One of them bit the girl and her hand was greatly damaged. The old Marshal took the girl to the doctor, but it was late – the doctor cut off her hand. At the end of the story Mattie who was 40 years old and lived alone decided to find Marshal but she was late – he died.
COMMENTS
The screenplay True Grit is a well written and structured work which consists of 118 pages. The genre of the work include drama, western and adventure. The plot of the story is rather simple but a great deal of action scenes make it very emotional and colorful. Moreover, it is easy to find character development almost in every action scene. One of the most interesting scenes in the screenplay is the scene where Cogburn appeared in the court as a witness. The scene lasts 10 minutes and gives an opportunity to understand the character of that strong man.
The screenplay has a lot of themes which require certain evaluation of the public. The girl who is fourteen years old wants to revenge injustice and to punish the murderer of her father. Numerous dialogues in the screenplay are very emotional. Each character speaks in a unique voice.
The main hero Mattie is shown as a person of strong character who is self-confident and does everything possible to achieve her goal. The other character Cogburn is worthy of respect as he fights against criminals who kill people.
The movie True Grit is for those who prefer western movies with rich character development and a number of complex themes which offer the public to think of many important issues in life such as life and death, injustice and truth, strong will and courage and so on.
Although the movie does not make their character ideal, the viewers can feel the emotional state of all of them. The content of the story consists of a large number of western style violence scenes which show gunfight. As a rule gunfights have bloody consequences when the characters shoot and kill each other.
The acting is perfect. The cast consists of the famous and skilled actors such as Jeff Bridges(Rooster Cogburn), Matt Demon(LaBoeuf), Barry Pepper(Ned Pepper) and others.
Hailee Steinfeld(Mattie Ross) had her debut in this movie and showed her talent.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, it is necessary to say that the screenplay True Grit is a good piece of work which deserved attention of all the viewers who are not indifferent to westerns. It is a classical western which contains all the elements of the genre. The adventures of the girl who wants to revenge for her father’s death together with two law men show that only strong willed people can achieve their goals. The screenplay also represents a lot of information concerning the history of the USA.