YMMV / True Grit

• Adaptation Displacement: Both films are better known than the book. In fact, when The Coen Brothers offered Jeff Bridges the role of Rooster Cogburn, he asked, "Didn't they already make that with John Wayne?" To which they replied that it wasn't a remake, but rather an adaptation of the book, to which Bridges replied, "There's a book?"
• Award Snub:
  • The 2010 movie had ten Academy Award nominations, but no wins — making it tied with Gangs of New York, The Irishman, and American Hustle for second place among the biggest losers in Academy history.
  • And one of those nominations was Hailee Steinfeld for Best Supporting Actress, despite her clearly playing the main protagonist. Considering that she would've been going up against Natalie Portman for Black Swan (a guaranteed win) it was probably assumed that she would have had a better chance at winning in the Supporting category. Doesn’t make her losing to Melissa Leo for The Fighter any less annoying though.
  • The film's Awesome Music wasn't even eligible, due to it being heavily based on existing Christian hymns.
  • Roger Deakins lost out on his ninth nomination for Cinematography with this film, though it was admittedly to a deserving Wally Pfifster for Inception.
• Awesome Music: Elmer Bernstein....being Elmer Bernstein.
  • Carter Burwell's score is also quite awesome in the film itself, using the hymn "Leaning On the Everlasting Arms" to great effect.
  • Johnny Cash's "God's Gonna Cut You Down" in the remake's trailer.
  • "River Crossing," also from the remake.
• Catharsis Factor: Chaney's demise in both versions, considering how much of a pathetic loser and unsympathetic killer he was—especially with Mattie getting to take him out herself in the 2010 version.
• Consolation Award: John Wayne's Best Actor win is seen as a consolation for him not winning the award for his work in films like Red River, The Quiet Man, The Searchers, and Sands of Iwo Jima (though Wayne was at least nominated for the latter). To this day, majority of people strongly feel that Dustin Hoffman should have won his much deserved Best Actor Oscar for his gritty, heartbreaking performance in Midnight Cowboy.
• Crosses the Line Twice:
  • The hanging of the three men at the beginning of the 2010 movie where the first two made their last pleas. The first man is sobbing and begging for people not to follow his example. The second just says a few words about that he wouldn't be hanged if he killed the right man. The last man, a Native American, attempts to say his last words but is bagged mid-sentence.
  • The scene where Reuben throws and kicks two Native American children off a porch. The fact that they were just tormenting a horse with sharp sticks probably helps lessen the blow and makes the scene come off as hilarious.
• Genius Bonus: The conversation between Rooster and LeBeouf regarding the former's association with Quantrill's Raiders can come off as a moralistic overreaction (fully characteristic by this point) on LeBeouf's part to a former confederate soldier to those unfamiliar with the details of the American Civil War. Those familiar with Quantrill's methods and actions are more likely to see it as the sudden tipping point in sympathies between the two characters.
• Hollywood Homely: Averted in the 2010 version. Mattie's not ugly by any stretch but she does look plain and normal - a long way from the teenagers we're accustomed to seeing on Nickelodeon and Disney.
• Magnificent Bastard (1969 original): "Lucky" Ned Pepper is a feared outlaw hunted by Texas Ranger La Boeuf. Hiding out in Native American territory, Pepper detects and evades a trap by La Boeuf's gang to regroup with his full forces. Confronted by the young Mattie Ross, Pepper proves himself surprisingly respectful as he orders his thuggish subordinate Tom Chaney to not harm the girl before gathering his forces to personally face down gunslinger Rooster Cogburn, even trying to gun Rooster down while mortally wounded.
• Narm: In both films, Mattie's delivery when she talks about Rooster having "true grit." It's like she knows she's in a movie and she's saying the title.
• One-Scene Wonder: Colonel G. Stonehill in both adaptations. Strother Martin was particularly brilliant in the 1969 version - he isn't afraid to play Mattie's haggling game, and throws out a number of memorable quotes during their arguments.
  • For that matter, Dennis Hopper as Moon.
  • The old man with the bear headdress that stops briefly to talk to Rooster and Mattie in the 2010 version.
• Retroactive Recognition:
  • At the end of the 1969 film, Cogburn is congratulated for his heroics by Piglet.
  • Wilford Brimley makes his uncredited film debut.
• Squick:
  • For the 2010 version, at least, people appear to be having a variety of reactions to the tension between LaBoeuf and Mattie, like when he says he was considering "stealing a kiss" while she slept and the scene in which he spanks her for her obstinate behavior. Nothing actually happens, but a Bodyguard Crush could be implied...
  • The Bear Man says that he has no place to sleep, except for his blankets and furs (which he hints he would share with the two travelers). When they refuse his "hospitality" he clearly looks disappointed.
• Viewer Gender Confusion: If it weren't for the dress, one could hardly tell Mattie is a girl in the 1969 film. Her appearance in that movie has been compared to a young Justin Bieber.
• What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?:
  • The 1969 version was rated G despite a clear shot of someone's fingers getting chopped off, as well as some other comparatively mild scenes of violence, as well as some harsh profanity, some of which had to be edited to secure that G rating (yes, even in 1969, the MPAA was harsher on language than violence).
  • The 2010 movie received only a PG-13 rating despite quite a lot of gore and violence, which viewers and critics at the time compared to The King's Speech getting an R rating solely for harsh language.

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