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the american buffalo is not extinct
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** Rooster waxing nostalgic about the American buffalo -- which he helped hunt into extinction.
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** Rooster waxing nostalgic about the American buffalo -- which he helped hunt into near extinction.
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* VillainOfAnotherStory: Ned Pepper is this in both versions. Infamous outlaw? Check. Leader of a gang? Check. History with Rooster Cogburn? Check. Is he the villain of the movie? Nope, it's his henchman Tom Chaney who got drunk and killed Mattie's father. He's actually pissed at Tom for dragging him into the events of True Grit to begin with.
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* VillainOfAnotherStory: Ned Pepper is this in both all versions. Infamous outlaw? Check. Leader of a gang? Check. History with Rooster Cogburn? Check. Is he the villain of the movie? Nope, it's his henchman Tom Chaney who got drunk and killed Mattie's father. He's actually pissed at Tom for dragging him into the events of True Grit to begin with.
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* CaliforniaDoubling: The story takes place in the [[DeepSouth Ozarks]], but the landscape in the movie doesn't look like the Ozarks.
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* CaliforniaDoubling: The story takes place in the [[DeepSouth Ozarks]], but the landscape in the movie doesn't look like the Ozarks. In fact, it was shot in Colorado.
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* VillainOfAnotherStory: Ned Pepper is this in both versions. Infamous outlaw? Check. Leader of a gang? Check. History with Rooster Cogburn? Check. Is he the villain of the movie? Nope, it's his henchman Tom Chaney who got drunk and killed Mattie's father. He's actually pissed at Tom for dragging him into the events of True Grit to begin with.
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* DownerEnding: While the climactic confrontation has a positive outcome, the conclusion set twenty-five years later reveals that [[spoiler:Mattie has grown up into a caustic old maid with few or no friends, Cogburn died before they could meet again, and she hasn't heard from [=LaBoeuf=] since the shootout with Pepper's gang.]] Can be seen as a BittersweetEnding, depending on how content you may think Mattie is (in the original book, she's perfectly fine with things), or how bad you think things turned out. See BittersweetEnding.
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* DownerEnding: While the climactic confrontation has a positive outcome, the conclusion set twenty-five years later reveals that [[spoiler:Mattie has lost an arm to snakebite and grown up into a caustic old maid with few or no friends, Cogburn died before they could meet again, and she hasn't heard from [=LaBoeuf=] since the shootout with Pepper's gang.]] Can be seen as a BittersweetEnding, depending on how content you may think Mattie is (in the original book, she's perfectly fine with things), or how bad you think things turned out. See BittersweetEnding.
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* AncestralWeapon: Mattie's father's revolver, which she tries to kill the murderer with, and eventually (in the first movie) gives to Rooster and (in the second movie) [[spoiler:shoots Chaney with when she first meets him during the chase. Surprisingly, it was a CrowningMomentOfFunny.]]
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* AncestralWeapon: Mattie's father's revolver, which she tries to kill the murderer with, and eventually (in the first movie) gives to Rooster and (in the second movie) [[spoiler:shoots Chaney with when she first meets him during the chase. Surprisingly, it was a CrowningMomentOfFunny.]]SugarWiki/{{Funny Moment|s}}]].
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** [=LaBoeuf=] rescues Mattie [[spoiler:when Chaney tries to [[strike:kill]] ''silence'' her.]]
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** [=LaBoeuf=] rescues Mattie [[spoiler:when Chaney tries to [[strike:kill]] ''silence'' her.]]her]].
* DamselInDistress: Mattie. Oh, is there a classical western without one? Though she's less so in the original book and especially the 2010 film.
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* DistressedDamsel: Mattie. Oh, is there a classical western without one? Though she's less so in the original book and especially the 2010 film.
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* HangingJudge: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Parker Judge Parker]], actual historical person and one of the [[TropeNamer trope namers]].
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* HangingJudge: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Parker Judge Parker]], actual historical person and one of the [[TropeNamer trope namers]].TropeNamers.
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* JerkAss: [=LaBoeuf=], who openly brags about being a Texas ranger and gets constantly angry at Mattie for getting insulted over it (later beating her), though [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold he gets better]].
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* JerkAss: {{Jerkass}}: [=LaBoeuf=], who openly brags about being a Texas ranger and gets constantly angry at Mattie for getting insulted over it (later beating her), though [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold he gets better]].
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* ShootTheDog: Rooster [[spoiler:puts Little Blackie out of his misery after he's near dead from exhaustion.]]
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* ShootTheDog: Rooster [[spoiler:puts Little Blackie out of his misery after he's near dead from exhaustion.]]exhaustion]].
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* DeathByAdaptation: [[spoiler:[=LaBoeuf=]]].
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* CaliforniaDoubling: The story takes place in the [[DeepSouth Ozarks]], but the landscape in the movie doesn't look like the Ozarks.
* DeathByAdaptation:[[spoiler:[=LaBoeuf=]]].[[spoiler:[=LaBoeuf=].]]
* DeathByAdaptation:
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* TheGunfighterWannabe: Mattie's pretty serious about the revenge and makes Rooster and [=LaBoeuf=] take her with them. Even though she shows enough guts to impress them into taking her along, when things get serious, she's the DistressedDamsel. In the book and remake, Mattie is pretty skilled at fighting though, and again, 1969 Mattie can still be pretty badass in other areas.
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* TheGunfighterWannabe: Mattie's pretty serious about the revenge and makes Rooster and [=LaBoeuf=] take her with them. Even though she shows enough guts to impress them into taking her along, when things get serious, she's the DistressedDamsel.DamselInDistress. In the book and remake, Mattie is pretty skilled at fighting though, and again, 1969 Mattie can still be pretty badass in other areas.
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* NoKillLikeOverkill: [=LaBoeuf=] shoots a turkey and proudly brings it to the party who complain that it's all ripped up. [[MoreDakka Too much gun]], Rooster says. Ah, what can he know, he's not from Texas!
* CaliforniaDoubling: The story takes place in the [[DeepSouth Ozarks]], but the landscape in the movie doesn't look like the Ozarks.
* CaliforniaDoubling: The story takes place in the [[DeepSouth Ozarks]], but the landscape in the movie doesn't look like the Ozarks.
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* NoKillLikeOverkill: ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: [=LaBoeuf=] shoots a turkey and proudly brings it to the party who complain that it's all ripped up. [[MoreDakka Too much gun]], Rooster says. Ah, what can he know, he's not from Texas!
* CaliforniaDoubling: The story takes place in the [[DeepSouth Ozarks]], but the landscape in the movie doesn't look like the Ozarks.
* TheCameo: J.K. Simmons' recognizable voice "appears" very briefly as Mattie's lawyer answering her letter.
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-->'''Rooster''': "[[BigLippedAlligatorMoment ...You are not LaBoeuf]]"
* [[ChekhovsGun Chekov's Gun]]
* [[ChekhovsGun Chekov's Gun]]
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-->'''Rooster''': "[[BigLippedAlligatorMoment ...You are not LaBoeuf]]"
LaBoeuf.]]"
*[[ChekhovsGun Chekov's Gun]]ChekhovsGun
*
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--> "[[CrowningMomentOfFunny Are we]] [[OhNoNotAgain trading again]]?"
* TheCameo: J.K. Simmons' recognizable voice "appears" very briefly as Mattie's lawyer answering her letter.
* TheCameo: J.K. Simmons' recognizable voice "appears" very briefly as Mattie's lawyer answering her letter.
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--> "[[CrowningMomentOfFunny "[[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Are we]] [[OhNoNotAgain trading again]]?"
* TheCameo: J.K. Simmons' recognizable voice "appears" very briefly as Mattie's lawyer answering her letter.again?]]"
* TheCameo: J.K. Simmons' recognizable voice "appears" very briefly as Mattie's lawyer answering her letter.
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* ImprobableAimingSkills: [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-zagged]] in one scene where [=LaBoeuf=] and a drunken Rooster try to show off their marksmanship, and both hit ''and'' miss some very difficult moving targets (and Rooster once [[EpicFail missed]] [[RuleOfFunny a not very small, non-moving target]]). The scene with Rooster shooting at, and missing, the whiskey bottle proves to be a [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction]] of the EyepatchOfPower. Though the eyepatch looks cool and Rooster is plenty Badass, it does provide a handicap, especially when combined with his alcoholism. Just before he shoots the bottle, he has to tilt his head much more in order for his good eye, on the left side, to line up properly with the gun in his right hand.
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* ImprobableAimingSkills: [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-zagged]] in one scene where [=LaBoeuf=] and a drunken Rooster try to show off their marksmanship, and both hit ''and'' miss some very difficult moving targets (and Rooster once [[EpicFail missed]] [[RuleOfFunny a not very small, non-moving target]]). The scene with Rooster shooting at, and missing, the whiskey bottle proves to be a [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction]] {{deconstruct|edTrope}}ion of the EyepatchOfPower. Though the eyepatch looks cool and Rooster is plenty Badass, it does provide a handicap, especially when combined with his alcoholism. Just before he shoots the bottle, he has to tilt his head much more in order for his good eye, on the left side, to line up properly with the gun in his right hand.
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* LawOfInverseRecoil: Both times Mattie fires guns, they give one hell of a recoil. Possibly [[JustifiedTrope justified]], given her small stature and lack of experience with firearms.
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* LawOfInverseRecoil: Both times Mattie fires guns, they give one hell of a recoil. Possibly [[JustifiedTrope justified]], {{justified|Trope}}, given her small stature and lack of experience with firearms.
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Purely grammatical.
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* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Rooster and [=LaBoeuf=]......[=LaBoeuf=] and Mattie.......Mattie and Cogburn. Let's just say neither of them are thrilled to be teaming together.
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* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Rooster and [=LaBoeuf=]......[=LaBoeuf=] and Mattie.......Mattie and Cogburn. Let's just say neither none of them are thrilled to be teaming together.
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it doesn\'t \"buy her time\", it probably CAUSED her needing to have her arm amputated. There is no benefit, none at all, to sucking out the poison like this.
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* SuckOutThePoison: Done realistically. Incisions are made first (although not as big as they should be), and all it does is buy some time; the victim still ends up extremely ill, delirious, and in urgent need of [[spoiler:an amputation.]]
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* SuckOutThePoison: Done realistically. Incisions are made first (although not as big as they should be), and all it does There is buy some time; the victim still ends up extremely ill, delirious, no perceptible benefit afterwards, and in urgent need of [[spoiler:an amputation.]]all likelihood [[spoiler: this probably lead to an infection which is why Mattie had to have her arm amputated]].
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* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Rooster and [=LaBoeuf=].
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* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Rooster and [=LaBoeuf=].[=LaBoeuf=]......[=LaBoeuf=] and Mattie.......Mattie and Cogburn. Let's just say neither of them are thrilled to be teaming together.
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* DirtyCoward: Tom Chaney, who attacks only when the opportunity shows itself.
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* DirtyCoward: Tom Chaney, who attacks only when the opportunity shows itself. The epigraph of the 2010 film drives this home, with [[TheBible Proverbs 28:1 :]] "The wicked flee when none pursueth."
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* DawsonCasting: Mattie. In the book, she's about fourteen -- and prepubescent. Kim Darby was well into her twenties.
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* PlayingAgainstType: John Wayne usually played straight heroes, not middle-aged drunken {{Anti Hero}}es.
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* DawsonCasting: Averted this time, as HaileeSteinfeld was 13 at the time the movie was made.
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* DisabledCharacterDisabledActor: A woman missing her left forearm (due to a birth defect) was hired to play older Mattie in shots that don't show her face. She winds up having more screen time than the actress that plays older Mattie, mostly due to the long shot at the end of Mattie [[spoiler:walking away from Rooster's grave]] that lasts into the credits.
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* HollywoodHomely: The men around Mattie talk about her as if she's plain, and that's an accepted fact. But Hailee Steinfeld isn't ugly, so much as she's dressed down (severely braided hair, unflattering overcoat, no [visible] makeup) and in an awkward stage between childhood and maturity.
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* HollywoodHomely: The men around Mattie talk about her as if she's plain, and that's an accepted fact. But Hailee Steinfeld isn't ugly, so much as she's dressed down (severely braided hair, unflattering overcoat, no [visible] makeup) and in an awkward stage between childhood and maturity.
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* TwilightOfTheOldWest: Railroads are already established transportation at the start of the film; by the end of it, Rooster Cogburn is living a parody of his old life in a Wild West Show, and the West is done.
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* ReliablyUnreliableGuns: Mattie's Colt Dragoon (cartridge-converted Colt Walker in the 1969 film) misfires twice when [[spoiler:she shoots Chaney]]. The book explains that Rooster, while drunk, used it to shoot a rat, and Mattie insisted he reload the two fired cylinders, which he did using defective old caps from a box under his bed, and still drunk. However, Jeff Bridges doesn't shoot any rats, and John Wayne used his Colt Peacemaker, making the misfires a mystery and giving an unfair impression that Dragoons were unreliable.
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* SpankTheCutie: [=LaBoeuf=] whips Mattie after she crosses the river to get to them. For unknown reasons (a censored TV version?) nobody remembers this scene being in the 1969 film. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vXfV50-5-Y It is, though]].
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A second adaptation was released on December 22, 2010, directed by Creator/TheCoenBrothers. Staying [[TruerToTheText closer to the source material]], it places a greater emphasis on Mattie, played impressively by 14-year-old HaileeSteinfeld. JeffBridges as Rooster and MattDamon as [=LaBoeuf=] costar, with Creator/JoshBrolin as Tom Chaney. The film was nominated for ten AcademyAwards, but won none.
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A second adaptation was released on December 22, 2010, directed by Creator/TheCoenBrothers. Staying [[TruerToTheText closer to the source material]], it places a greater emphasis on Mattie, played impressively by 14-year-old HaileeSteinfeld. JeffBridges as Rooster and MattDamon Creator/MattDamon as [=LaBoeuf=] costar, with Creator/JoshBrolin as Tom Chaney. The film was nominated for ten AcademyAwards, but won none.
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* {{Badass}}: See the quotes.
** BadassGrandpa: Rooster must be closing on sixty by the time of the film, yet he still kicks ass with ease.
** BadassLongcoat: Rooster wears one.
** LittleMissBadass: Mattie in the 2010 version.
** BadassGrandpa: Rooster must be closing on sixty by the time of the film, yet he still kicks ass with ease.
** BadassLongcoat: Rooster wears one.
** LittleMissBadass: Mattie in the 2010 version.
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* {{Badass}}: See Rooster Cogburn is one of the quotes.
**best-known examples in the Western genre.
* BadassGrandpa: Rooster must be closing on sixty by the time of the film, yet he still kicks ass with ease.
** * BadassLongcoat: Rooster wears one.
** LittleMissBadass: Mattie in the 2010 version.one.
**
* BadassGrandpa: Rooster must be closing on sixty by the time of the film, yet he still kicks ass with ease.
** LittleMissBadass: Mattie in the 2010 version.
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A second adaptation was released on December 22, 2010, directed by Creator/TheCoenBrothers. Staying closer to the source material, it places a greater emphasis on Mattie, played impressively by 14-year-old HaileeSteinfeld. JeffBridges as Rooster and MattDamon as [=LaBoeuf=] costar, with Creator/JoshBrolin as Tom Chaney. The film was nominated for ten AcademyAwards, but won none.
to:
A second adaptation was released on December 22, 2010, directed by Creator/TheCoenBrothers. Staying Staying [[TruerToTheText closer to the source material, material]], it places a greater emphasis on Mattie, played impressively by 14-year-old HaileeSteinfeld. JeffBridges as Rooster and MattDamon as [=LaBoeuf=] costar, with Creator/JoshBrolin as Tom Chaney. The film was nominated for ten AcademyAwards, but won none.
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* Bookworm: Mattie.
* BrainyBrunette:Mattie
* BrainyBrunette:Mattie
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* Bookworm: {{Bookworm}}: Mattie.
*BrainyBrunette:MattieBrainyBrunette: Mattie
*
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* Bookworm: Mattie.
* BrainyBrunette:Mattie
* BrainyBrunette:Mattie
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* EvenEvilHasStandards: Implied with Lucky Ned in the 2010 version, that standard being oathkeeping. For instance, one of his first lines is informing Rooster that his threat to kill Mattie is not an empty one. Later on, he is adamant that Mattie be left unharmed after closing his deal for her release with Rooster.
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A second adaptation was released on December 22, 2010, directed by Creator/TheCoenBrothers. Staying closer to the source material, it places a greater emphasis on Mattie, played impressively by 14-year-old HaileeSteinfeld. JeffBridges as Rooster and MattDamon as [=LaBoeuf=] costar. The film was nominated for ten AcademyAwards, but won none.
to:
A second adaptation was released on December 22, 2010, directed by Creator/TheCoenBrothers. Staying closer to the source material, it places a greater emphasis on Mattie, played impressively by 14-year-old HaileeSteinfeld. JeffBridges as Rooster and MattDamon as [=LaBoeuf=] costar.costar, with Creator/JoshBrolin as Tom Chaney. The film was nominated for ten AcademyAwards, but won none.
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cruft
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* DawsonCasting: Notably averted this time, as HaileeSteinfeld was 13 at the time the movie was made.
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* DawsonCasting: Notably averted Averted this time, as HaileeSteinfeld was 13 at the time the movie was made.
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* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: The Pepper Gang's doctor banks a hard left and rides right out of the film when Rooster starts opening fire on the gang.
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** JKSimmons [[TheCameo as Mattie's lawyer]] predicts that her headstrong ways will get her into a "tight corner."
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* VengeanceFeelsEmpty: Very much the tone of the ending in the original novel and the 2010 version.
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* VengeanceFeelsEmpty: Implied to have happened in the remake.
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* VengeanceFeelsEmpty: Implied to have happened in the remake.
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* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Arguably all THREE of the main characters qualify.
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* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Arguably all All THREE of the main characters qualify.
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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/TrueGrit.jpg]]
->'''Rooster:''' I mean to kill you in one minute, Ned, or see you hanged at Fort Smith at Judge Parker's convenience. Which'll it be?\\
'''Ned:''' I call that bold talk for a one-eyed fat man!\\
'''Rooster:''' ''[[PreAssKickingOneLiner Fill your hand, you son of a bitch!]]''
''True Grit'' is an 1968 Western novel by Charles Portis. Its main plot revolves around planter's daughter Mattie Ross, seeking revenge for her father's murder -- with the aid of a notorious marshal Rooster Cogburn -- "The meanest one, double-tough, knowing no fear" aging {{Badass}} drunkard -- and a younger Texas Ranger [=LaBoeuf=]. The plot is played straight, involving some chasing, some tracking, some humor, much shooting, saving the girl from a snake pit, one-to-four [[FinalBattle final showdown]] of Rooster against bandits and the final scene of Rooster riding away, proud and alone (sadly, there's no [[RidingIntoTheSunset sunset]]).
The book was adapted to film twice. The first version, released in 1969, was directed by Henry Hathaway and starred JohnWayne as Rooster Cogburn. The movie had two sequels: 1975 ''[[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073636/ Rooster Cogburn]]'' (original release title ''Rooster Cogburn (... and the Lady)'', starring John Wayne and Creator/KatharineHepburn), and 1978 ''[[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078422/ True Grit]]'' (made for TV, starring Warren Oates).
A second adaptation was released on December 22, 2010, directed by Creator/TheCoenBrothers. Staying closer to the source material, it places a greater emphasis on Mattie, played impressively by 14-year-old HaileeSteinfeld. JeffBridges as Rooster and MattDamon as [=LaBoeuf=] costar. The film was nominated for ten AcademyAwards, but won none.
----
!!Both films and the book provide examples of:
* AdaptationalAttractiveness: The two actresses who portray Mattie Ross in both the 1969 and 2010 versions (Kim Darby and HaileeSteinfeld) are somewhat prettier than described in the book.
* {{Adorkable}}: Mattie in the rare moments where she actually shows she's still a young girl, like when she's trying to ease the tension between Rooster and [=LaBoeuf=] in the first campfire scene, or cheering "some bully shot".
* AffablyEvil: Ned Pepper. When Mattie is captured, he specifically forbids anyone from harming her and tells her that they will leave her unharmed in a civilized place. However, he still puts her at the mercy of a man with every reason to kill her.
* AgeLift:
** In the 1969 adaptation, John Wayne was 61 at the time, while the book describes Rooster as being in his early forties. Jeff Corey (playing Chaney) was in his 50s, while Chaney is in his mid twenties in the novel.
** In the 2010 version, most of the male lead actors are older than their respective characters were in the book. Jeff Bridges was 60 when the film was made. Matt Damon (39) plays [=LaBoeuf=], who is about 30 in the book, and Josh Brolin (42) plays Chaney. Barry Pepper is about the same age as Ned Pepper is in the book, though. It helps that Damon and Brolin are OlderThanTheyLook.
* AncestralWeapon: Mattie's father's revolver, which she tries to kill the murderer with, and eventually (in the first movie) gives to Rooster and (in the second movie) [[spoiler:shoots Chaney with when she first meets him during the chase. Surprisingly, it was a CrowningMomentOfFunny.]]
* AnArmAndALeg: In the book and 2010 film, [[spoiler:Mattie has her arm amputated in the end, due to a rattlesnake bite.]]
* AsianStoreOwner: The Chinese man who runs the store where Cogburn likes to doze off.
* AutomatonHorses: Averted. The trio spends much time caring for their horses, and when Rooster is riding Blackie hard and long to save Mattie, [[spoiler: he ends up collapsing, and it's pretty obvious he's done for, even before Rooster [[ShootTheDog puts him out of his misery]].]]
* {{Badass}}: See the quotes.
** BadassGrandpa: Rooster must be closing on sixty by the time of the film, yet he still kicks ass with ease.
** BadassLongcoat: Rooster wears one.
** LittleMissBadass: Mattie in the 2010 version.
* BadassAndChildDuo
* BigDamnHeroes:
** [=LaBoeuf=] rescues Mattie [[spoiler:when Chaney tries to [[strike:kill]] ''silence'' her.]]
** [[spoiler: Rooster appears to have abandoned Mattie out of convenience when she's captured, but [=LaBoeuf=] (who heard Mattie's shot) tells her he's coming back due to a bounty for Ned Pepper's gang.]]
* BountyHunter: Rooster.
* ButtMonkey: [=LaBoeuf=] is shot, tied up, beaten, trampled, bites through his tongue, and mocked repeatedly throughout the film.
** The Coen Brothers appear to have kept the character alive in their adaptation, not for a happier ending, but to make one last joke at his expense.
* ChekhovsGun: Lots of these.
** A literal examples in Mattie's father's gun which she carries around with her for 3/4 of the movie, and eventually shoots.
** Mattie's lawyer J. Noble Daggett, whose name she, as [=LaBoeuf=] said in the original, draws like a gun. He is a voice over in the 2010 film, but he shows up in the end of the 1969 film.
** When Rooster explains (i.e. taunts) the consequences (mortification (i.e. gangrene)) of not treating a deep wound to a prisoner that has been shot. Later [[spoiler: in the 2010 film, Mattie loses an arm to the effects of snake venom]].
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: The outlaw henchman who could only make chicken noises in both films.
* DirtyCoward: Tom Chaney, who attacks only when the opportunity shows itself.
* DistressedDamsel: Mattie. Oh, is there a classical western without one? Though she's less so in the original book and especially the 2010 film.
* DoYouWantToHaggle: Mattie sure does. She wears down Col. Stonehill into recompensating her for the two horses that Tom Chaney stole after murdering her father. One of them did not even belong to the Rosses, but Frank Ross had paid for the use of him. She also sells back some Mustang ponies her father bought, despite Stonehill's insistence that he doesn't want them.
-->'''Mattie:''' You have not traded poorly.
-->'''Stonehill:''' [[SarcasmMode Oh, certainly not.]] I am paying you for a horse I do not possess and have bought back a string of useless ponies which I cannot sell again.
** When she later goes to buy another horse from him he's downright ''terrified'' of her.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: The book and 2010 film both Deconstruct the classic Western, populating it with drunks, puffed-up know-nothings, and amoral bandits rather than romantic heroes. But when it comes down to it, Rooster, [=LaBoeuf=], and ''especially'' Mattie demonstrate real heroism and courage, and they succeed in bringing down their man.
* EyepatchOfPower: Rooster. After this role brought Wayne the Academy Award for Best Actor, he said: "If I'd known this, I'd have put that eyepatch on 40 years ago." Cogburn does not wear an eyepatch in the novel, however.
* TheFilmOfTheBook: Based on a novel by Charles Portis.
* FinalBattle: (see above)
* FormallyNamedPet: The cat's name is General Sterling Price, after the AmericanCivilWar general of the same name.
* GoodIsNotNice: Rooster will catch Chaney, no problem. This doesn't mean he won't be a huge jerk along the way and bitch about it the entire time. Lampshaded when Mattie specifically seeks him out for being the "meanest" Marshall available.
* TheGunslinger: All the main cast, that's a western!
* HangingJudge: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Parker Judge Parker]], actual historical person and one of the [[TropeNamer trope namers]].
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: The novel and the 2010 film end at a Wild West Show run by former infamous criminals Cole Younger and Frank James (brother of Jesse), who would have been out of prison by this time. Older Mattie is quite respectful to Mr. Younger, but has a few choice words to say to Mr. James. Whether this is because of James' lack of courtesy to her -he does not stand up when she approaches him- or because he [[KarmaHoudini never served a sentence for his crimes]] (unlike Younger) is unclear.
* JerkAss: [=LaBoeuf=], who openly brags about being a Texas ranger and gets constantly angry at Mattie for getting insulted over it (later beating her), though [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold he gets better]].
* JurisdictionFriction: Where is Chaney to be convicted and hanged, and for what? In Arkansas, for the murder of Mattie's father? Or in Texas, for the murder of a state Senator (and his dog)? [[spoiler: Made irrelevant by Chaney dying in the final battle.]]
* LittleMissSnarker: Mattie in all three.
* MilesGloriosus: Averted. [=LaBoeuf=] looks like he's going to be one. But he turns out to be tough, tenacious, honorable and a crack shot. Still a pompous windbag though.
* {{Outlaw}} - Chaney and Pepper's gang.
* PluckyGirl: Mattie in all three.
* PreAssKickingOneLiner: Say it with me: '''Fill your hand, you son of a bitch!'''
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: [=LaBoeuf=] seems to consider himself this. None of the non-Texans are impressed.
* {{Rancher}}: Mattie's family.
* RetiredOutlaw: Prior to becoming a Marshall, Rooster's activities included robbing high-interest banks and being a member of Quantrill's Raiders. However, he does insist quite strongly that he was not a murderer, and only ever stole from banks, not individual people.
* ShootTheDog: Rooster [[spoiler:puts Little Blackie out of his misery after he's near dead from exhaustion.]]
* ShopKeeper: In the 1969 film, also a FunnyForeigner -- an old Chinese man, whose store Rooster likes to crash in. In the 2010 film, [[DoYouWantToHaggle a terrible haggler.]] The Chinese vendor appears in the 2010 movie as well, in about two scenes, one of which he's smoking opium.
* SmallGirlBigGun: Done with a nod to realism - Mattie, due to her age and stature, has trouble firing a gun half her size.
* SpankTheCutie: [=LaBoeuf=] whips Mattie after she crosses the river to get to them. For unknown reasons (a censored TV version?) nobody remembers this scene being in the 1969 film. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vXfV50-5-Y It is, though]].
* SpockSpeak: Everyone in the novel and both films sounds very odd because they [[SelfDemonstratingArticle do not use]] contractions, true to the time period.
* TitleDrop: Mattie has heard that Rooster is "a man with true grit."
* {{Undertaker}}
* USMarshal: Rooster is one.
* TheWestern
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: In the novel and 2010 film, the last we see or hear from [=LaBoeuf=] is when Rooster leaves the scene of the final battle with Mattie to seek medical attention. Rooster is forced to leave him behind because there's only one horse left. He promises to send someone to get him, and [=LaBoeuf=] insists he'll be fine. He's never seen again in the 2010 film. In the novel, Mattie says that for years she tried and failed to find out what happened to him. The 1969 film solves this problem by [[spoiler:killing him via a fall from a horse shortly after the final battle ends.]]
* TheWildWest
* YouKilledMyFather: Mattie. She actually faces her father's murderer and even shoots him, but the gun misfires. [[spoiler:In the 2010 film she shoots him the first time with the same result, then finishes the job later on]].
!!Tropes specific to the original novel:
* AsTheGoodBookSays: Mattie regularly quotes from the Bible during her narration, referring to specific passages.
* BadassMoustache: Rooster Cogburn, who is described as looking like a one-eyed [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grover_Cleveland Grover Cleveland]].
* BittersweetEnding: Mattie seems generally more upbeat than she does at the end of the 2010 film (she says she's content with the life she's led rather than act regretful), but the feeling is still somewhat melancholy, especially when it comes to her relationship with Cogburn.
* CatsAreMean: Adult Mattie is thoroughly convinced that this is the case, and even cites [[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%208:26-33&version=NIV Luke 8:26-33]] as scriptural "proof" for it.
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: At one point, the narration says:
-->It was a cashier's check for $2,750 drawn on the Grangers Trust Co. of Topeka, Kansas, to a man named Marshall Purvis. I said, "This is a cashier's check for $2,750 drawn on the Grangers Trust Co. of Topeka, Kansas, to a man named Marshall Purvis."
* EyepatchOfPower: Averted. While Cogburn has only one eye, he doesn't wear an eyepatch. This was changed for both films to accommodate actors who obviously still had two eyes.
* ShoutOut: In addition to the explicit quoting of Bible passages, there are a number of more subtle allusions to scripture in the story. One of the more prominent examples involves two criminals who, prior to their deaths, strongly resemble the two thieves who were crucified with Jesus. One is unrepentant, the other accepts redemption and is promised a place in Paradise.
* SweetTooth: Rooster enjoys eating honey cakes with jam.
!!Tropes specific to the 1969 film
* BittersweetEnding: The happiest ending of the three versions for sure, but [[spoiler:[=LaBoeuf's=] death]] kind of dampens things.
* DawsonCasting: Mattie. In the book, she's about fourteen -- and prepubescent. Kim Darby was well into her twenties.
* DeathByAdaptation: [[spoiler:[=LaBoeuf=]]].
* DeathByIrony: After Mattie is knocked into the snakepit, Chaney makes a crack about how there'll be a corpse in that pit soon enough. He's then shot and falls, dead, into the pit himself. Mattie is rescued, but Chaney's corpse is just left there to rot.
* TheGunfighterWannabe: Mattie's pretty serious about the revenge and makes Rooster and [=LaBoeuf=] take her with them. Even though she shows enough guts to impress them into taking her along, when things get serious, she's the DistressedDamsel. In the book and remake, Mattie is pretty skilled at fighting though, and again, 1969 Mattie can still be pretty badass in other areas.
* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:[=LaBoeuf=] himself at the end.]]
* NoKillLikeOverkill: [=LaBoeuf=] shoots a turkey and proudly brings it to the party who complain that it's all ripped up. [[MoreDakka Too much gun]], Rooster says. Ah, what can he know, he's not from Texas!
* PlayingAgainstType: John Wayne usually played straight heroes, not middle-aged drunken {{Anti Hero}}es.
* CaliforniaDoubling: The story takes place in the [[DeepSouth Ozarks]], but the landscape in the movie doesn't look like the Ozarks.
!!Tropes specific to the 2010 film
* AntiHero: Rooster is a rude, crude, sloven drunkard who only agrees to Mattie's offer out of sheer annoyance, and spends some of the trip to find Mattie's target roaring drunk. [[spoiler:And just before the climax, tells Mattie that the entire trip was an irritating waste of his time, which demoralizes [=LaBoeuf=] enough to leave the group in the morning, and seemingly abandons her to her father's killer when she's caught.]] This is, of course, [[spoiler:just a ploy to follow the group back to their camp.]] He also stops [=LaBoeuf=] from whipping Mattie.
* BadassBeard: Rooster has this.
* BadassLongcoat: And this too.
* BillingDisplacement: Josh Brolin is billed third and above the title, but doesn't appear until an hour in and has somewhat less presence.
** AndStarring: HaileeSteinfeld, despite being the protagonist, is the last name to appear in the credits. This may be partially due to this being her first film.
* BittersweetEnding: Or DownerEnding, depending on how you look at it. See DownerEnding.
* BoisterousBruiser: Cogburn.
* BoomHeadshot: Rooster responds to [[spoiler:Quincey fatally stabbing his accomplice, Moon,]] by immediately pulling out his sixgun and shooting [[spoiler:Quincey]] point-blank in the face. No GoryDiscretionShot, either; the shooting happens in full view of the camera.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Despite his many quirks and {{Jerkass}}itude, Cogburn does have the true grit.
* CaliforniaDoubling: Set in Eastern Oklahoma, shot in New Mexico and Texas. As anyone familiar with Oklahoma (or New Mexico and Texas!) can tell you, they don't really look alike.
* CaptainObvious: Rooster dispenses lines in this vein as though they were pearls of wisdom. Among the most memorable:
-->'''Rooster''': "[[{{Understatement}} The situation did not develop as intended]]."
** There's also:
-->'''Rooster''': "Well. That did ''not'' pan out."
** Perhaps the greatest example:
-->'''Rooster''': "[[BigLippedAlligatorMoment ...You are not LaBoeuf]]"
* [[ChekhovsGun Chekov's Gun]]
** Rooster and Mattie take care to lay down a rope to ward off snakes wherever they bed down for the evening. As it is winter, Ranger [=LaBoeuf=] says it is unnecessary. However, [[spoiler:during the climactic scene, Mattie stirs up some dormant snakes that awaken and strike. She is saved by a rope, which Rooster uses to reach her.]]
** The snakes [[spoiler:are sleeping in a pit that [=LaBoeuf=] had only moments earlier pointed out to Mattie]] in a throwaway line talking about something else.
* DawsonCasting: Notably averted this time, as HaileeSteinfeld was 13 at the time the movie was made.
* DeliberateValuesDissonance
** Played to a cringe-inducing [[CrossesTheLineTwice and/or hilarious]] degree in a minor scene early on: when two white men and an Indian are being hanged, both white men are allowed a FinalSpeech but the second the native opens his mouth he gets the hood shoved over his head and [[KilledMidSentence the platform is immediately released when he tries to keep talking anyway.]]
** Rooster waxing nostalgic about the American buffalo -- which he helped hunt into extinction.
-->'''Rooster:''' Damn shame. I would give three dollars right now for a pickled buffalo tongue.
** The uncomfortable pseudo romantic moments between [=LaBoeuf=] and Mattie.
** Played with when Rooster frees and chases off a mule that two Native American children were goading outside a trading post, then proceeds to repeatedly and literally kick them off of the porch to the ground. This has presumably more to do with their treatment of the mule than with their ethnic background, however.
* {{Determinator}}: Mattie is almost inhumanly obsessed with avenging her father.
* DiagonalCut: In the gun equivalent of this trope, for several seconds after [[spoiler:[=LaBoeuf=] shoots Pepper at long range]], it's unclear that he was hit at all. Then he falls over dead.
* DisabledCharacterDisabledActor: A woman missing her left forearm (due to a birth defect) was hired to play older Mattie in shots that don't show her face. She winds up having more screen time than the actress that plays older Mattie, mostly due to the long shot at the end of Mattie [[spoiler:walking away from Rooster's grave]] that lasts into the credits.
* DownerEnding: While the climactic confrontation has a positive outcome, the conclusion set twenty-five years later reveals that [[spoiler:Mattie has grown up into a caustic old maid with few or no friends, Cogburn died before they could meet again, and she hasn't heard from [=LaBoeuf=] since the shootout with Pepper's gang.]] Can be seen as a BittersweetEnding, depending on how content you may think Mattie is (in the original book, she's perfectly fine with things), or how bad you think things turned out. See BittersweetEnding.
* DoYouWantToHaggle: Mattie does. She has to visibly force herself ''not'' to haggle with Rooster since she needs his good will.
--> "[[CrowningMomentOfFunny Are we]] [[OhNoNotAgain trading again]]?"
* TheCameo: J.K. Simmons' recognizable voice "appears" very briefly as Mattie's lawyer answering her letter.
* TheFellowshipHasEnded: [[spoiler:As revealed in the epilogue, after the end of their quest, Mattie never met Cogburn or [=LaBoeuf=] again]].
* {{Fingore}}
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Mentioning that snakes are usually asleep at this time of year, and taking precautions anyway.
* GallowsHumor: Literally! The most cringe-worthy, and yet still funny, is both of the white hangers-to-be are given time to say their last words, but the Native American one has his bag forced over his head just as he begins to give his, cutting him off.
* GirlishPigtails: Mattie's hairstyle tells everybody she's just a young girl.
* GuileHero: Mattie wins battles through her intelligence, will, and force of personality alone - Rooster turns her down ''twice'' before she gets a grudging agreement to do the task, and she has to catch up to him the third time.
* HandyCuffs: Two outlaws having their hands restrained in this way allowed one to kill the other with a knife before he could talk.
* [[spoiler:TheHeroDies: Rooster himself at the end.]]
* HitlerCam: Tom Chaney when he starts formulating an intent to kill Mattie.
* HumanResources: The dead body Rooster and Mattie find hung thirty feet up from a tree over the trail. After Mattie cuts it down, a passing Indian asks to take it with him - as Rooster puts it, "a dead body's gonna be worth something to someone." Later on they find out it ended up with [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment the Bear Man]], [[{{Squick}} who pulled out all its teeth but offered to trade the rest of it to them]].
* ImprobableAimingSkills: [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-zagged]] in one scene where [=LaBoeuf=] and a drunken Rooster try to show off their marksmanship, and both hit ''and'' miss some very difficult moving targets (and Rooster once [[EpicFail missed]] [[RuleOfFunny a not very small, non-moving target]]). The scene with Rooster shooting at, and missing, the whiskey bottle proves to be a [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction]] of the EyepatchOfPower. Though the eyepatch looks cool and Rooster is plenty Badass, it does provide a handicap, especially when combined with his alcoholism. Just before he shoots the bottle, he has to tilt his head much more in order for his good eye, on the left side, to line up properly with the gun in his right hand.
* InsistentTerminology: A brief example, but Forrester the Bear Man makes a couple of specific references to "the ''original'' Greaser Bob." Apparently, there were multiple Greaser Bobs in the Choctaw Nation...
* InVinoVeritas: Sort of. Rooster finally screams at [=LaBoeuf=] and Mattie that their trail has gone cold, that he's out of his league, that he has no clue why he agreed to this job, and that all of them are gullible idiots, prompting [=LaBoeuf=] to leave again and Mattie to get shaken a little. We say "sort of" because [[spoiler:she runs into Cheney the very next morning.]]
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Arguably all THREE of the main characters qualify.
* LawOfInverseRecoil: Both times Mattie fires guns, they give one hell of a recoil. Possibly [[JustifiedTrope justified]], given her small stature and lack of experience with firearms.
** The Sharps carbine in particular has a beastly amount of recoil; a grown man holding it incorrectly could easily be knocked off balance.
* MakesUsEven: Mattie spends 25 years trying to get [[spoiler:Cogburn his last $50. She then finds that he died three days ago, and that the money is of no use to him, hence why she moves him to her family plot.]] Though some might say it went beyond just the debt.
* MayDecemberRomance: The epilogue implies [[spoiler:that Mattie's attachment to Cogburn had something to do with her never marrying, in a completely non-physical sense. Or at least, it implies that other people imply that.]]
* MercyKill: [[spoiler: Rooster does this to Little Blackie in order to not making him suffer since it's almost dead exhausted]].
* NeverMyFault: Rooster tossing an empty bottle into the air to shoot at, and missing. Three times.
-->'''Rooster:''' That Chinamen is running them cheap shells on me again.
-->'''[=LaBoeuf=]:''' I thought you gonna say the sun was in your eyes. That is to say, your '''eye'''.
* NoSenseOfPersonalSpace: Mattie tried to talk to Rooster while he was in the outhouse.
* NotSoHarmlessVillain: Though not nearly as cunning as [=LaBoeuf=] insists he is, Tom Chaney is much more ruthless and cruel than his GoodOlBoy dialect and attitude would imply.
* OneRiotOneRanger: [=LaBoeuf=]. Less literally, Cogburn also fits this trope, since Marshals often work alone and he's taken on whole gangs by himself.
* OnlyAFleshWound: [=LaBoeuf=] is shot straight through the shoulder but shrugs it off. Rooster gets shot by one of Ned Pepper's men in the finale but isn't hindered. [[spoiler:Mattie shoots Chaney, but he stays on his feet and attacks her (twice).]]
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: Cogburn appears to be this when he negotiates a $100 bounty for tracking down Chaney. By the end there's probably more to it, especially when [[spoiler:he never collects the remaining $50.]]
* PublicExecution: Three men are publicly hanged early on in the film.
* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Especially rattle-snakes.
* RuleOfPerception: Two extremely rare aversions. First, the sound of Rooster's gunshot is delayed by several seconds. Second, there is a noticeable delay between the report of [=LaBoeuf=]'s carbine and the impact of the bullet. Most people are used to instant sound effects and hitscan weapons, so this may be a case of RealityIsUnrealistic.
* RuleOfSymbolism: The fatal bullet for Tom Cheney also propels his shooter into a snake pit.
* SceneryPorn: Unsurprisingly a major focus, given that it was done by the Coen Brothers. Credit also due to their frequent collaborator, DP Roger Deakins, who may be the best in the industry in that position.
* ShoutOut: A rather subtle one: The shot of [[spoiler:Old Mattie]] standing in front of [[spoiler:Rooster]]'s grave at sunset is an exact recreation of the opening and closing shots of Film/{{Unforgiven}}.
* SuckOutThePoison: Done realistically. Incisions are made first (although not as big as they should be), and all it does is buy some time; the victim still ends up extremely ill, delirious, and in urgent need of [[spoiler:an amputation.]]
* TakingYouWithMe: Ned Pepper tries to do this with Rooster after the shoot-out in the glen. As Pepper himself says, he is shot to pieces, he's miles from civilization, and his gang's doctor has fled, so he knows he's not walking away from the fight, but he can at least kill Rooster who is trapped under the corpse of his horse. [[spoiler:Ultimately averted when [=LaBoeuf=] snipes Pepper from a cliff at least 400 meters away, saving Rooster's life.]]
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Rooster and [=LaBoeuf=].
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour: Even by [[DeliberateValuesDissonance Old West standards]], a 14-year-old girl that hellbent on vengeance gives everybody pause.
* TruerToTheText: The Coen brothers have said that this was their intention.
* WaterIsDry: After Mattie has her horse swim across the river, she comes out and there is a shot of her looking at Rooster and [=LaBouef=]. She has a few drops falling from her hat, but her clothes are nowhere ''near'' as soaked as they were a moment ago.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: If you [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdAXjMj6mfU look closely at the final shootout]], you'll notice that the gang's doctor lives. He isn't mentioned afterwards, him and his horse are absent from long shots, and Rooster doesn't try to find him in order to treat Mattie after the snake bite.
* WiseBeyondHerYears: Mattie, incredibly smart, stern and determined for her age. [[JustifiedTrope Makes sense]] because of all she's been through and her previous responsibilities. Yet the 2010 adaptation's dark tone at the end is a [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction of this]]- her insistence on getting her way, even through intimidation, may have been cute when she was a child but these traits did not serve her well during her adult years.
* YouMakeMeSic: Mattie continually points out Rooster's misspellings - even a quarter-century later!
* YouTalkTooMuch: Let's just let Rooster take this one:
-->'''Rooster''': It astonishes me that Mr. [=LaBoeuf=] has been shot, trampled, and nearly bitten his tongue off, and yet not only does he continue to talk but he ''spills'' the banks of English.
----
->'''Rooster:''' I mean to kill you in one minute, Ned, or see you hanged at Fort Smith at Judge Parker's convenience. Which'll it be?\\
'''Ned:''' I call that bold talk for a one-eyed fat man!\\
'''Rooster:''' ''[[PreAssKickingOneLiner Fill your hand, you son of a bitch!]]''
''True Grit'' is an 1968 Western novel by Charles Portis. Its main plot revolves around planter's daughter Mattie Ross, seeking revenge for her father's murder -- with the aid of a notorious marshal Rooster Cogburn -- "The meanest one, double-tough, knowing no fear" aging {{Badass}} drunkard -- and a younger Texas Ranger [=LaBoeuf=]. The plot is played straight, involving some chasing, some tracking, some humor, much shooting, saving the girl from a snake pit, one-to-four [[FinalBattle final showdown]] of Rooster against bandits and the final scene of Rooster riding away, proud and alone (sadly, there's no [[RidingIntoTheSunset sunset]]).
The book was adapted to film twice. The first version, released in 1969, was directed by Henry Hathaway and starred JohnWayne as Rooster Cogburn. The movie had two sequels: 1975 ''[[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073636/ Rooster Cogburn]]'' (original release title ''Rooster Cogburn (... and the Lady)'', starring John Wayne and Creator/KatharineHepburn), and 1978 ''[[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078422/ True Grit]]'' (made for TV, starring Warren Oates).
A second adaptation was released on December 22, 2010, directed by Creator/TheCoenBrothers. Staying closer to the source material, it places a greater emphasis on Mattie, played impressively by 14-year-old HaileeSteinfeld. JeffBridges as Rooster and MattDamon as [=LaBoeuf=] costar. The film was nominated for ten AcademyAwards, but won none.
----
!!Both films and the book provide examples of:
* AdaptationalAttractiveness: The two actresses who portray Mattie Ross in both the 1969 and 2010 versions (Kim Darby and HaileeSteinfeld) are somewhat prettier than described in the book.
* {{Adorkable}}: Mattie in the rare moments where she actually shows she's still a young girl, like when she's trying to ease the tension between Rooster and [=LaBoeuf=] in the first campfire scene, or cheering "some bully shot".
* AffablyEvil: Ned Pepper. When Mattie is captured, he specifically forbids anyone from harming her and tells her that they will leave her unharmed in a civilized place. However, he still puts her at the mercy of a man with every reason to kill her.
* AgeLift:
** In the 1969 adaptation, John Wayne was 61 at the time, while the book describes Rooster as being in his early forties. Jeff Corey (playing Chaney) was in his 50s, while Chaney is in his mid twenties in the novel.
** In the 2010 version, most of the male lead actors are older than their respective characters were in the book. Jeff Bridges was 60 when the film was made. Matt Damon (39) plays [=LaBoeuf=], who is about 30 in the book, and Josh Brolin (42) plays Chaney. Barry Pepper is about the same age as Ned Pepper is in the book, though. It helps that Damon and Brolin are OlderThanTheyLook.
* AncestralWeapon: Mattie's father's revolver, which she tries to kill the murderer with, and eventually (in the first movie) gives to Rooster and (in the second movie) [[spoiler:shoots Chaney with when she first meets him during the chase. Surprisingly, it was a CrowningMomentOfFunny.]]
* AnArmAndALeg: In the book and 2010 film, [[spoiler:Mattie has her arm amputated in the end, due to a rattlesnake bite.]]
* AsianStoreOwner: The Chinese man who runs the store where Cogburn likes to doze off.
* AutomatonHorses: Averted. The trio spends much time caring for their horses, and when Rooster is riding Blackie hard and long to save Mattie, [[spoiler: he ends up collapsing, and it's pretty obvious he's done for, even before Rooster [[ShootTheDog puts him out of his misery]].]]
* {{Badass}}: See the quotes.
** BadassGrandpa: Rooster must be closing on sixty by the time of the film, yet he still kicks ass with ease.
** BadassLongcoat: Rooster wears one.
** LittleMissBadass: Mattie in the 2010 version.
* BadassAndChildDuo
* BigDamnHeroes:
** [=LaBoeuf=] rescues Mattie [[spoiler:when Chaney tries to [[strike:kill]] ''silence'' her.]]
** [[spoiler: Rooster appears to have abandoned Mattie out of convenience when she's captured, but [=LaBoeuf=] (who heard Mattie's shot) tells her he's coming back due to a bounty for Ned Pepper's gang.]]
* BountyHunter: Rooster.
* ButtMonkey: [=LaBoeuf=] is shot, tied up, beaten, trampled, bites through his tongue, and mocked repeatedly throughout the film.
** The Coen Brothers appear to have kept the character alive in their adaptation, not for a happier ending, but to make one last joke at his expense.
* ChekhovsGun: Lots of these.
** A literal examples in Mattie's father's gun which she carries around with her for 3/4 of the movie, and eventually shoots.
** Mattie's lawyer J. Noble Daggett, whose name she, as [=LaBoeuf=] said in the original, draws like a gun. He is a voice over in the 2010 film, but he shows up in the end of the 1969 film.
** When Rooster explains (i.e. taunts) the consequences (mortification (i.e. gangrene)) of not treating a deep wound to a prisoner that has been shot. Later [[spoiler: in the 2010 film, Mattie loses an arm to the effects of snake venom]].
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: The outlaw henchman who could only make chicken noises in both films.
* DirtyCoward: Tom Chaney, who attacks only when the opportunity shows itself.
* DistressedDamsel: Mattie. Oh, is there a classical western without one? Though she's less so in the original book and especially the 2010 film.
* DoYouWantToHaggle: Mattie sure does. She wears down Col. Stonehill into recompensating her for the two horses that Tom Chaney stole after murdering her father. One of them did not even belong to the Rosses, but Frank Ross had paid for the use of him. She also sells back some Mustang ponies her father bought, despite Stonehill's insistence that he doesn't want them.
-->'''Mattie:''' You have not traded poorly.
-->'''Stonehill:''' [[SarcasmMode Oh, certainly not.]] I am paying you for a horse I do not possess and have bought back a string of useless ponies which I cannot sell again.
** When she later goes to buy another horse from him he's downright ''terrified'' of her.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: The book and 2010 film both Deconstruct the classic Western, populating it with drunks, puffed-up know-nothings, and amoral bandits rather than romantic heroes. But when it comes down to it, Rooster, [=LaBoeuf=], and ''especially'' Mattie demonstrate real heroism and courage, and they succeed in bringing down their man.
* EyepatchOfPower: Rooster. After this role brought Wayne the Academy Award for Best Actor, he said: "If I'd known this, I'd have put that eyepatch on 40 years ago." Cogburn does not wear an eyepatch in the novel, however.
* TheFilmOfTheBook: Based on a novel by Charles Portis.
* FinalBattle: (see above)
* FormallyNamedPet: The cat's name is General Sterling Price, after the AmericanCivilWar general of the same name.
* GoodIsNotNice: Rooster will catch Chaney, no problem. This doesn't mean he won't be a huge jerk along the way and bitch about it the entire time. Lampshaded when Mattie specifically seeks him out for being the "meanest" Marshall available.
* TheGunslinger: All the main cast, that's a western!
* HangingJudge: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Parker Judge Parker]], actual historical person and one of the [[TropeNamer trope namers]].
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: The novel and the 2010 film end at a Wild West Show run by former infamous criminals Cole Younger and Frank James (brother of Jesse), who would have been out of prison by this time. Older Mattie is quite respectful to Mr. Younger, but has a few choice words to say to Mr. James. Whether this is because of James' lack of courtesy to her -he does not stand up when she approaches him- or because he [[KarmaHoudini never served a sentence for his crimes]] (unlike Younger) is unclear.
* JerkAss: [=LaBoeuf=], who openly brags about being a Texas ranger and gets constantly angry at Mattie for getting insulted over it (later beating her), though [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold he gets better]].
* JurisdictionFriction: Where is Chaney to be convicted and hanged, and for what? In Arkansas, for the murder of Mattie's father? Or in Texas, for the murder of a state Senator (and his dog)? [[spoiler: Made irrelevant by Chaney dying in the final battle.]]
* LittleMissSnarker: Mattie in all three.
* MilesGloriosus: Averted. [=LaBoeuf=] looks like he's going to be one. But he turns out to be tough, tenacious, honorable and a crack shot. Still a pompous windbag though.
* {{Outlaw}} - Chaney and Pepper's gang.
* PluckyGirl: Mattie in all three.
* PreAssKickingOneLiner: Say it with me: '''Fill your hand, you son of a bitch!'''
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: [=LaBoeuf=] seems to consider himself this. None of the non-Texans are impressed.
* {{Rancher}}: Mattie's family.
* RetiredOutlaw: Prior to becoming a Marshall, Rooster's activities included robbing high-interest banks and being a member of Quantrill's Raiders. However, he does insist quite strongly that he was not a murderer, and only ever stole from banks, not individual people.
* ShootTheDog: Rooster [[spoiler:puts Little Blackie out of his misery after he's near dead from exhaustion.]]
* ShopKeeper: In the 1969 film, also a FunnyForeigner -- an old Chinese man, whose store Rooster likes to crash in. In the 2010 film, [[DoYouWantToHaggle a terrible haggler.]] The Chinese vendor appears in the 2010 movie as well, in about two scenes, one of which he's smoking opium.
* SmallGirlBigGun: Done with a nod to realism - Mattie, due to her age and stature, has trouble firing a gun half her size.
* SpankTheCutie: [=LaBoeuf=] whips Mattie after she crosses the river to get to them. For unknown reasons (a censored TV version?) nobody remembers this scene being in the 1969 film. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vXfV50-5-Y It is, though]].
* SpockSpeak: Everyone in the novel and both films sounds very odd because they [[SelfDemonstratingArticle do not use]] contractions, true to the time period.
* TitleDrop: Mattie has heard that Rooster is "a man with true grit."
* {{Undertaker}}
* USMarshal: Rooster is one.
* TheWestern
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: In the novel and 2010 film, the last we see or hear from [=LaBoeuf=] is when Rooster leaves the scene of the final battle with Mattie to seek medical attention. Rooster is forced to leave him behind because there's only one horse left. He promises to send someone to get him, and [=LaBoeuf=] insists he'll be fine. He's never seen again in the 2010 film. In the novel, Mattie says that for years she tried and failed to find out what happened to him. The 1969 film solves this problem by [[spoiler:killing him via a fall from a horse shortly after the final battle ends.]]
* TheWildWest
* YouKilledMyFather: Mattie. She actually faces her father's murderer and even shoots him, but the gun misfires. [[spoiler:In the 2010 film she shoots him the first time with the same result, then finishes the job later on]].
!!Tropes specific to the original novel:
* AsTheGoodBookSays: Mattie regularly quotes from the Bible during her narration, referring to specific passages.
* BadassMoustache: Rooster Cogburn, who is described as looking like a one-eyed [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grover_Cleveland Grover Cleveland]].
* BittersweetEnding: Mattie seems generally more upbeat than she does at the end of the 2010 film (she says she's content with the life she's led rather than act regretful), but the feeling is still somewhat melancholy, especially when it comes to her relationship with Cogburn.
* CatsAreMean: Adult Mattie is thoroughly convinced that this is the case, and even cites [[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%208:26-33&version=NIV Luke 8:26-33]] as scriptural "proof" for it.
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: At one point, the narration says:
-->It was a cashier's check for $2,750 drawn on the Grangers Trust Co. of Topeka, Kansas, to a man named Marshall Purvis. I said, "This is a cashier's check for $2,750 drawn on the Grangers Trust Co. of Topeka, Kansas, to a man named Marshall Purvis."
* EyepatchOfPower: Averted. While Cogburn has only one eye, he doesn't wear an eyepatch. This was changed for both films to accommodate actors who obviously still had two eyes.
* ShoutOut: In addition to the explicit quoting of Bible passages, there are a number of more subtle allusions to scripture in the story. One of the more prominent examples involves two criminals who, prior to their deaths, strongly resemble the two thieves who were crucified with Jesus. One is unrepentant, the other accepts redemption and is promised a place in Paradise.
* SweetTooth: Rooster enjoys eating honey cakes with jam.
!!Tropes specific to the 1969 film
* BittersweetEnding: The happiest ending of the three versions for sure, but [[spoiler:[=LaBoeuf's=] death]] kind of dampens things.
* DawsonCasting: Mattie. In the book, she's about fourteen -- and prepubescent. Kim Darby was well into her twenties.
* DeathByAdaptation: [[spoiler:[=LaBoeuf=]]].
* DeathByIrony: After Mattie is knocked into the snakepit, Chaney makes a crack about how there'll be a corpse in that pit soon enough. He's then shot and falls, dead, into the pit himself. Mattie is rescued, but Chaney's corpse is just left there to rot.
* TheGunfighterWannabe: Mattie's pretty serious about the revenge and makes Rooster and [=LaBoeuf=] take her with them. Even though she shows enough guts to impress them into taking her along, when things get serious, she's the DistressedDamsel. In the book and remake, Mattie is pretty skilled at fighting though, and again, 1969 Mattie can still be pretty badass in other areas.
* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:[=LaBoeuf=] himself at the end.]]
* NoKillLikeOverkill: [=LaBoeuf=] shoots a turkey and proudly brings it to the party who complain that it's all ripped up. [[MoreDakka Too much gun]], Rooster says. Ah, what can he know, he's not from Texas!
* PlayingAgainstType: John Wayne usually played straight heroes, not middle-aged drunken {{Anti Hero}}es.
* CaliforniaDoubling: The story takes place in the [[DeepSouth Ozarks]], but the landscape in the movie doesn't look like the Ozarks.
!!Tropes specific to the 2010 film
* AntiHero: Rooster is a rude, crude, sloven drunkard who only agrees to Mattie's offer out of sheer annoyance, and spends some of the trip to find Mattie's target roaring drunk. [[spoiler:And just before the climax, tells Mattie that the entire trip was an irritating waste of his time, which demoralizes [=LaBoeuf=] enough to leave the group in the morning, and seemingly abandons her to her father's killer when she's caught.]] This is, of course, [[spoiler:just a ploy to follow the group back to their camp.]] He also stops [=LaBoeuf=] from whipping Mattie.
* BadassBeard: Rooster has this.
* BadassLongcoat: And this too.
* BillingDisplacement: Josh Brolin is billed third and above the title, but doesn't appear until an hour in and has somewhat less presence.
** AndStarring: HaileeSteinfeld, despite being the protagonist, is the last name to appear in the credits. This may be partially due to this being her first film.
* BittersweetEnding: Or DownerEnding, depending on how you look at it. See DownerEnding.
* BoisterousBruiser: Cogburn.
* BoomHeadshot: Rooster responds to [[spoiler:Quincey fatally stabbing his accomplice, Moon,]] by immediately pulling out his sixgun and shooting [[spoiler:Quincey]] point-blank in the face. No GoryDiscretionShot, either; the shooting happens in full view of the camera.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Despite his many quirks and {{Jerkass}}itude, Cogburn does have the true grit.
* CaliforniaDoubling: Set in Eastern Oklahoma, shot in New Mexico and Texas. As anyone familiar with Oklahoma (or New Mexico and Texas!) can tell you, they don't really look alike.
* CaptainObvious: Rooster dispenses lines in this vein as though they were pearls of wisdom. Among the most memorable:
-->'''Rooster''': "[[{{Understatement}} The situation did not develop as intended]]."
** There's also:
-->'''Rooster''': "Well. That did ''not'' pan out."
** Perhaps the greatest example:
-->'''Rooster''': "[[BigLippedAlligatorMoment ...You are not LaBoeuf]]"
* [[ChekhovsGun Chekov's Gun]]
** Rooster and Mattie take care to lay down a rope to ward off snakes wherever they bed down for the evening. As it is winter, Ranger [=LaBoeuf=] says it is unnecessary. However, [[spoiler:during the climactic scene, Mattie stirs up some dormant snakes that awaken and strike. She is saved by a rope, which Rooster uses to reach her.]]
** The snakes [[spoiler:are sleeping in a pit that [=LaBoeuf=] had only moments earlier pointed out to Mattie]] in a throwaway line talking about something else.
* DawsonCasting: Notably averted this time, as HaileeSteinfeld was 13 at the time the movie was made.
* DeliberateValuesDissonance
** Played to a cringe-inducing [[CrossesTheLineTwice and/or hilarious]] degree in a minor scene early on: when two white men and an Indian are being hanged, both white men are allowed a FinalSpeech but the second the native opens his mouth he gets the hood shoved over his head and [[KilledMidSentence the platform is immediately released when he tries to keep talking anyway.]]
** Rooster waxing nostalgic about the American buffalo -- which he helped hunt into extinction.
-->'''Rooster:''' Damn shame. I would give three dollars right now for a pickled buffalo tongue.
** The uncomfortable pseudo romantic moments between [=LaBoeuf=] and Mattie.
** Played with when Rooster frees and chases off a mule that two Native American children were goading outside a trading post, then proceeds to repeatedly and literally kick them off of the porch to the ground. This has presumably more to do with their treatment of the mule than with their ethnic background, however.
* {{Determinator}}: Mattie is almost inhumanly obsessed with avenging her father.
* DiagonalCut: In the gun equivalent of this trope, for several seconds after [[spoiler:[=LaBoeuf=] shoots Pepper at long range]], it's unclear that he was hit at all. Then he falls over dead.
* DisabledCharacterDisabledActor: A woman missing her left forearm (due to a birth defect) was hired to play older Mattie in shots that don't show her face. She winds up having more screen time than the actress that plays older Mattie, mostly due to the long shot at the end of Mattie [[spoiler:walking away from Rooster's grave]] that lasts into the credits.
* DownerEnding: While the climactic confrontation has a positive outcome, the conclusion set twenty-five years later reveals that [[spoiler:Mattie has grown up into a caustic old maid with few or no friends, Cogburn died before they could meet again, and she hasn't heard from [=LaBoeuf=] since the shootout with Pepper's gang.]] Can be seen as a BittersweetEnding, depending on how content you may think Mattie is (in the original book, she's perfectly fine with things), or how bad you think things turned out. See BittersweetEnding.
* DoYouWantToHaggle: Mattie does. She has to visibly force herself ''not'' to haggle with Rooster since she needs his good will.
--> "[[CrowningMomentOfFunny Are we]] [[OhNoNotAgain trading again]]?"
* TheCameo: J.K. Simmons' recognizable voice "appears" very briefly as Mattie's lawyer answering her letter.
* TheFellowshipHasEnded: [[spoiler:As revealed in the epilogue, after the end of their quest, Mattie never met Cogburn or [=LaBoeuf=] again]].
* {{Fingore}}
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Mentioning that snakes are usually asleep at this time of year, and taking precautions anyway.
* GallowsHumor: Literally! The most cringe-worthy, and yet still funny, is both of the white hangers-to-be are given time to say their last words, but the Native American one has his bag forced over his head just as he begins to give his, cutting him off.
* GirlishPigtails: Mattie's hairstyle tells everybody she's just a young girl.
* GuileHero: Mattie wins battles through her intelligence, will, and force of personality alone - Rooster turns her down ''twice'' before she gets a grudging agreement to do the task, and she has to catch up to him the third time.
* HandyCuffs: Two outlaws having their hands restrained in this way allowed one to kill the other with a knife before he could talk.
* [[spoiler:TheHeroDies: Rooster himself at the end.]]
* HitlerCam: Tom Chaney when he starts formulating an intent to kill Mattie.
* HumanResources: The dead body Rooster and Mattie find hung thirty feet up from a tree over the trail. After Mattie cuts it down, a passing Indian asks to take it with him - as Rooster puts it, "a dead body's gonna be worth something to someone." Later on they find out it ended up with [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment the Bear Man]], [[{{Squick}} who pulled out all its teeth but offered to trade the rest of it to them]].
* ImprobableAimingSkills: [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-zagged]] in one scene where [=LaBoeuf=] and a drunken Rooster try to show off their marksmanship, and both hit ''and'' miss some very difficult moving targets (and Rooster once [[EpicFail missed]] [[RuleOfFunny a not very small, non-moving target]]). The scene with Rooster shooting at, and missing, the whiskey bottle proves to be a [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction]] of the EyepatchOfPower. Though the eyepatch looks cool and Rooster is plenty Badass, it does provide a handicap, especially when combined with his alcoholism. Just before he shoots the bottle, he has to tilt his head much more in order for his good eye, on the left side, to line up properly with the gun in his right hand.
* InsistentTerminology: A brief example, but Forrester the Bear Man makes a couple of specific references to "the ''original'' Greaser Bob." Apparently, there were multiple Greaser Bobs in the Choctaw Nation...
* InVinoVeritas: Sort of. Rooster finally screams at [=LaBoeuf=] and Mattie that their trail has gone cold, that he's out of his league, that he has no clue why he agreed to this job, and that all of them are gullible idiots, prompting [=LaBoeuf=] to leave again and Mattie to get shaken a little. We say "sort of" because [[spoiler:she runs into Cheney the very next morning.]]
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Arguably all THREE of the main characters qualify.
* LawOfInverseRecoil: Both times Mattie fires guns, they give one hell of a recoil. Possibly [[JustifiedTrope justified]], given her small stature and lack of experience with firearms.
** The Sharps carbine in particular has a beastly amount of recoil; a grown man holding it incorrectly could easily be knocked off balance.
* MakesUsEven: Mattie spends 25 years trying to get [[spoiler:Cogburn his last $50. She then finds that he died three days ago, and that the money is of no use to him, hence why she moves him to her family plot.]] Though some might say it went beyond just the debt.
* MayDecemberRomance: The epilogue implies [[spoiler:that Mattie's attachment to Cogburn had something to do with her never marrying, in a completely non-physical sense. Or at least, it implies that other people imply that.]]
* MercyKill: [[spoiler: Rooster does this to Little Blackie in order to not making him suffer since it's almost dead exhausted]].
* NeverMyFault: Rooster tossing an empty bottle into the air to shoot at, and missing. Three times.
-->'''Rooster:''' That Chinamen is running them cheap shells on me again.
-->'''[=LaBoeuf=]:''' I thought you gonna say the sun was in your eyes. That is to say, your '''eye'''.
* NoSenseOfPersonalSpace: Mattie tried to talk to Rooster while he was in the outhouse.
* NotSoHarmlessVillain: Though not nearly as cunning as [=LaBoeuf=] insists he is, Tom Chaney is much more ruthless and cruel than his GoodOlBoy dialect and attitude would imply.
* OneRiotOneRanger: [=LaBoeuf=]. Less literally, Cogburn also fits this trope, since Marshals often work alone and he's taken on whole gangs by himself.
* OnlyAFleshWound: [=LaBoeuf=] is shot straight through the shoulder but shrugs it off. Rooster gets shot by one of Ned Pepper's men in the finale but isn't hindered. [[spoiler:Mattie shoots Chaney, but he stays on his feet and attacks her (twice).]]
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: Cogburn appears to be this when he negotiates a $100 bounty for tracking down Chaney. By the end there's probably more to it, especially when [[spoiler:he never collects the remaining $50.]]
* PublicExecution: Three men are publicly hanged early on in the film.
* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Especially rattle-snakes.
* RuleOfPerception: Two extremely rare aversions. First, the sound of Rooster's gunshot is delayed by several seconds. Second, there is a noticeable delay between the report of [=LaBoeuf=]'s carbine and the impact of the bullet. Most people are used to instant sound effects and hitscan weapons, so this may be a case of RealityIsUnrealistic.
* RuleOfSymbolism: The fatal bullet for Tom Cheney also propels his shooter into a snake pit.
* SceneryPorn: Unsurprisingly a major focus, given that it was done by the Coen Brothers. Credit also due to their frequent collaborator, DP Roger Deakins, who may be the best in the industry in that position.
* ShoutOut: A rather subtle one: The shot of [[spoiler:Old Mattie]] standing in front of [[spoiler:Rooster]]'s grave at sunset is an exact recreation of the opening and closing shots of Film/{{Unforgiven}}.
* SuckOutThePoison: Done realistically. Incisions are made first (although not as big as they should be), and all it does is buy some time; the victim still ends up extremely ill, delirious, and in urgent need of [[spoiler:an amputation.]]
* TakingYouWithMe: Ned Pepper tries to do this with Rooster after the shoot-out in the glen. As Pepper himself says, he is shot to pieces, he's miles from civilization, and his gang's doctor has fled, so he knows he's not walking away from the fight, but he can at least kill Rooster who is trapped under the corpse of his horse. [[spoiler:Ultimately averted when [=LaBoeuf=] snipes Pepper from a cliff at least 400 meters away, saving Rooster's life.]]
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Rooster and [=LaBoeuf=].
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour: Even by [[DeliberateValuesDissonance Old West standards]], a 14-year-old girl that hellbent on vengeance gives everybody pause.
* TruerToTheText: The Coen brothers have said that this was their intention.
* WaterIsDry: After Mattie has her horse swim across the river, she comes out and there is a shot of her looking at Rooster and [=LaBouef=]. She has a few drops falling from her hat, but her clothes are nowhere ''near'' as soaked as they were a moment ago.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: If you [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdAXjMj6mfU look closely at the final shootout]], you'll notice that the gang's doctor lives. He isn't mentioned afterwards, him and his horse are absent from long shots, and Rooster doesn't try to find him in order to treat Mattie after the snake bite.
* WiseBeyondHerYears: Mattie, incredibly smart, stern and determined for her age. [[JustifiedTrope Makes sense]] because of all she's been through and her previous responsibilities. Yet the 2010 adaptation's dark tone at the end is a [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction of this]]- her insistence on getting her way, even through intimidation, may have been cute when she was a child but these traits did not serve her well during her adult years.
* YouMakeMeSic: Mattie continually points out Rooster's misspellings - even a quarter-century later!
* YouTalkTooMuch: Let's just let Rooster take this one:
-->'''Rooster''': It astonishes me that Mr. [=LaBoeuf=] has been shot, trampled, and nearly bitten his tongue off, and yet not only does he continue to talk but he ''spills'' the banks of English.
----
