in town , chaney had fallen to drink and cards and lost all his money .
beautifully adapted by joel and ethan coen from the parodic western novel by charles portis , it turns on a 14 - year - old arkansas girl who hires a “ one - eyed fat man ” to hunt down her father ’s killer .
their latest , " true grit , " adapted religiously from charles portis ' 1968 pulp novel , is a wonderfully entertaining , beautiful western drama that lets the quirks of the
directors : joel and ethan coen are rare cinematic originals , which masks how carefully distilled their films are .
much as he did in the raucously entertaining , beautiful western sebastian ap jeff bridges and newcomer hailee steinfeld star in joel and ethan coen 's new movie , " detachment " -- which , despite many nameable flaws , is a wrenching and powerful achievement -- comes when lucy liu , playing a high school guidance counselor , suffers a major breakdown in front of a student .
i was just fourteen years of age when a coward by the name of tom chaney shot my father down and robbed him of his life and his horse and two california gold pieces that he carried in his trouser band .
now it ’s the thinner scene - stealer jeff bridges who sits and sometimes drunkenly slumps in the saddle .
he got it into his head he was bein ' cheated and went that old - time american religion of vengeance runs like a river through “ true grit , ” a comic - serious tale was brought to the screen the next year custom - fitted for john wayne , who rode the role of that fat man , rooster cogburn , straight to an oscar .