'True Grit' Trailer HD

Plot summary

Portis’ novel is narrated in the first person by Mattie Ross, a thrifty, churchgoing spinster distinguished by a rare independence and strength of mind. As an old woman in the year 1928, she tells the story of her adventures many years earlier, when, at the age of fourteen, she undertook a quest to avenge her father’s death at the hands of a drifter named Tom Chaney.



As Mattie's tale begins, Chaney is employed on the Ross’ family farm in west central Arkansas, near the town of Dardanelle in Yell County. Chaney isn't much use as a farmhand and Mattie has only scorn for him, referring to him as "trash." She says her father, a good, kind man, only hired him out of pity. One day, Frank Ross and Chaney go to Fort Smith to buy some horses. Ross takes $250 with him to pay for the horses along with two gold pieces he always carried. He ends up spending only $100 on the horses. When Ross tries to intervene in a barroom confrontation, Chaney kills him, robs the body of the remaining $150 and two gold pieces, and flees into Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma) on his horse.



Hearing that Chaney has joined an outlaw gang led by the infamous "Lucky" Ned Pepper, Mattie wishes to track down the killer, and upon arriving at Fort Smith she looks for the toughest deputy Marshal in the district. That man turns out to be Reuben J. “Rooster” Cogburn, and although he is an aging, one-eyed, overweight, trigger-happy man who never seems to miss a drink of whiskey, he also has “grit.” Mattie decides she's found her man.



Playing on Cogburn's need for money (seeing that he gets his whiskey by confiscating it), Mattie finally persuades him to take on the job, insisting that, as part of the bargain, she must go along. During the preparation time a Texas Ranger named La Boeuf appears. He too is tracking Chaney for killing a senator and his dog in Texas, and is out for glory and a big cash reward. Cogburn and La Boeuf don't much like each other, but after some haggling, they agree to join forces in the hunt. The two men try hard to leave Mattie behind, but she proves more tenacious and resourceful than they'd expected and eventually she becomes an accepted member of the posse.



Together, but with very different motivations, the three ride into the wilderness to confront Ned Pepper's gang. Along the way, they begin to appreciate each other a little more