It’s 1969 and “True Grit,” a Western film about a young girl seeking revenge on her father’s murderer, had been released with top bill being held by John Wayne, who plays US Marshall Rooster Cogburn hired to lead the chase. The film earns immense acclaim and garners Wayne his only Academy Award win for Best Actor.

Now cut to 2010, a new remade “True Grit,” is being released by the Coen Brothers starring Jeff Bridges as the new Marshall. People can’t help but wonder; is the remake going to outshine one of Wayne’s most successful classics?   

“This is the sort of film you call a movie, instead of the kind of movie you call a film. It is one of the most delightful, joyous scary movies of all time.” raved Roger Ebert.

FilmCritic.com writes, “True Grit” is the kind of rip-roaring western adventure movie that, like film musicals, have art and innocence that is now lost forever.” On top of its Best Actor win, the film was also nominated for Best Original Song, “True Grit.”

Despite the immense amount of positive reviews for the film as a whole and that star studded cast, Wayne proved to be the main attraction of the Western. It did, after all, get him his only Best Actor Award despite being in so many other great films and iconic roles. He even joked in acceptance speech “Wow! If I’d known that, I’d have put that patch on 35 years earlier.”

In the same review, Roger Ebert proclaims “Wayne, in fact, towers over this special movie. He is not playing the same Western role he always plays. Instead, he can play Rooster because of all the Western roles he has played. He brings an ease and authority to the character. He never reaches. He never falters. It’s all there, a quiet confidence that grows out of 40 years of acting.” 

So how can such commendation even hope to be matched or dare say, surpassed? The Coen Brothers hope to do so. The film stars Matt Damon as La Beouf, Jeff Bridges as Tom Chaney, and newcomer Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross. Besides Steinfeld, the cast have all had their own share of national praise and award recognitions.

The film even has a more technological edge over the 1969 version, just go online and compare the trailers for yourself. The newer version hasn’t even been released yet and it’s gaining immense buzz. Critics are even predicting some Oscar nods.   

On the issue of how similar it is to the 1969 version, Ethan Coen says to IGN, “It’s partly a question of point-of-view. The book is entirely in the voice of the 14-year-old girl. That sort of tips the feeling of it over a certain way. I think [the book is] much funnier than the movie was so I think, unfortunately, they lost a lot of humor in both the situations and in her voice.

It also ends differently than the movie did. You see the main character — the little girl — 25 years later when she’s an adult. Another way in which it’s a little bit different from the movie — and maybe this is just because of the time the movie was made — is that it’s a lot tougher and more violent than the movie reflects. Which is part of what’s interesting about it.”

So, “True Grit,” version 2.0 isn’t a remake, it’s an adaption and anyone in the film world should be able to recognize the difference between the two. Errol Flynn, Kevin Costner, and Russell Crowe could attest to such a difference with their different portrayals of the character of Robin Hood.

So is it a fair question to ask someone who will portray the strong yet innocent Ross better, Darby or Steinfeld? Will Campbell or Damon conquer La Beouf’s cockiness to a cue? And the most difficult question, who will pull of the iconic character that is Marshall Rooster Cogburn better, Wayne or Bridges? Perhaps people should just recognize that the original “True Grit,” will remain an untouchable classic and Wayne an unmatchable actor. Realizing this will also allow us to appreciate the Coen Brother’s new film as a totally different entity of work. Now this way, audiences can appreciate both of the men’s display of true grit.