"I ain't had a drink since breakfast!". So says John Wayne, repeating his "True Grit" role as "Rooster Cogburn". "I do not fear a skunk. I simply do not care for its odor". So says Katharine Hepburn, playing basically the same part she had essayed 25 years earlier in "The African Queen". With those two lines, the personalities of these two characters are put into perspective. I could spend my entire review quoting this movie, a witty comedy western with romance, plenty of action and two stars that totally compliment each other. This is a reminder of how much fun movies USED to be.
The basic storyline, an official sequel to "True Grit", is a re-tread of "The African Queen" with Wayne back as Rooster, taking over what Humphrey Bogart did in John Huston's 1951 masterpiece. Instead of taking on Nazis like Bogart and Hepburn did in Africa, Wayne and Hepburn are pursuing the brutes who killed Hepburn's missionary father in cold blood. Along the way, the prim and proper Hepburn opens her eyes a bit and begins to enjoy life a little more, sparkling as she breaks many of her own rules as she shoots a rifle at the villains. You have to watch everything she does because Hepburn pulls out all the stops in her characterization. It is obvious that she was having a blast making this film.
Wayne, in his second to last western ("The Shootist", a wonderful film, was his last movie, released the following year), is not simply repeating his Oscar Winning role or making him a buffoon. He simply allows Hepburn's prim and proper spinster to bring out the best in him, enjoying every fight they have. This gives many more dimensions to a character that audiences had already come to love. Richard Romancito is truly memorable as the Native American boy taken in by Hepburn's father. His curiosity over Wayne's adventures is a touching bit of plot thrown in for good measure.
This is a film that deserves regular repeat viewings to pick up on all the comic tidbits that Wayne and Hepburn have to deliver. More clever than just simple entertainment and high ranking on Wayne's gallery of already classic portrayals, "Rooster Cogburn" is an extraordinary delight that younger audiences today should see as an example that sometimes "less" ends up being "so much more".
The basic storyline, an official sequel to "True Grit", is a re-tread of "The African Queen" with Wayne back as Rooster, taking over what Humphrey Bogart did in John Huston's 1951 masterpiece. Instead of taking on Nazis like Bogart and Hepburn did in Africa, Wayne and Hepburn are pursuing the brutes who killed Hepburn's missionary father in cold blood. Along the way, the prim and proper Hepburn opens her eyes a bit and begins to enjoy life a little more, sparkling as she breaks many of her own rules as she shoots a rifle at the villains. You have to watch everything she does because Hepburn pulls out all the stops in her characterization. It is obvious that she was having a blast making this film.
Wayne, in his second to last western ("The Shootist", a wonderful film, was his last movie, released the following year), is not simply repeating his Oscar Winning role or making him a buffoon. He simply allows Hepburn's prim and proper spinster to bring out the best in him, enjoying every fight they have. This gives many more dimensions to a character that audiences had already come to love. Richard Romancito is truly memorable as the Native American boy taken in by Hepburn's father. His curiosity over Wayne's adventures is a touching bit of plot thrown in for good measure.
This is a film that deserves regular repeat viewings to pick up on all the comic tidbits that Wayne and Hepburn have to deliver. More clever than just simple entertainment and high ranking on Wayne's gallery of already classic portrayals, "Rooster Cogburn" is an extraordinary delight that younger audiences today should see as an example that sometimes "less" ends up being "so much more".