True Grit a great tale

True Grit is a movie based on a novel of the same name. The book relates an interesting detail left out of the movie: “I found myself in need of a road stake and I robbed one of them high-interest banks,” says Rooster Cogburn.  “Thought I was doing a good service. You can’t rob a thief, can you?”

“It is all stealing,” Mattie Ross replies.

“That was the position they taken in Las Vegas, New Mexico,” said Cogburn. “I had to fly for my life.”

Only in the book you learn the city in New Mexico is our own Las Vegas.

Of course, the story is fiction but in that era, the 1870s, Las Vegas, was known for its lawlessness. The movie follows the book’s story line quite well. There are details about Presidents, the aftermath of the Civil War and other historical material.

Young girls should be sure they see True Grit. Mattie Ross, the heroine, is a 14 year-old girl whose unflinching determination and iron will rivals Rooster Cogburn’s grit any day. It’s really the story of two humans with boundless courage in difficult circumstances. Or perhaps, as they might say, they had some “lively times.” Mattie’s strong mindset that she will avenge her father’s death come hell or high water, can be seen but also read.

The Valles Caldera National Preserve in the Jemez Mountains is where some of the film was shot, I have heard.   

I guess the Coen Brothers are getting to see a lot of the scenery around these parts — especially after their 2007 hit, “No Country for Old Men.”

Don’t miss this one. It will play Ilfeld soon, in case you miss it in town.

Joan Krohn
Las Vegas