TRUE GRIT
Only God’s grace is free — a stirring western for adults.
Should You Watch It?
TRUE GRIT is a four-star western with humor, heart-rending moments, compelling characters, and the kind of frontier action the genre does best. Its Christian and biblical themes are unusually overt, and its spirit of chivalry, justice, courage, and perseverance is stirring.
But the film’s Family Content rating is −2. Strong obscenities and profanities, drunkenness, and one extreme act of violence—including an outlaw cutting off another man’s fingers and being shot in the head—make this unsuitable for children and young teens.
Adults who can handle those elements may find a moving, memorable story about grace, justice, and doing a difficult job faithfully. For families with children or young teens, choose something else.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESAfter her father is murdered, 14-year-old Presbyterian farm girl Mattie Ross hires one-eyed U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn to track down the killer.
A talkative Texas Ranger named LaBoeuf joins the pursuit because he wants the same outlaw for killing a state senator. The unlikely trio travels into Indian Territory, where the killer has joined Lucky Ned Pepper and his gang of brutal outlaws.
Is It Any Good?
Four stars means this is one of the year’s more unforgettable movies. Joel and Ethan Coen capture the style, wit, and voice of Charles Portis’s novel while paying homage to the 1969 John Wayne version.
The characters are compelling, especially Mattie, Rooster Cogburn, and LaBoeuf. Their formal, literary speech gives the movie a distinctive rhythm and a lyrical sense of chivalry against harsh frontier realities. The film also balances humor with genuinely heart-rending moments and delivers plenty of western excitement.
The Worldview
TRUE GRIT presents a very strong Christian, biblical worldview centered on justice, chivalry, manners, courage, fortitude, and doing what is right. The film opens with Proverbs 28:1 and emphasizes Mattie’s belief that God’s grace is the only thing in life that is free. It also includes references to Ezekiel, a character saying, “Praise the Lord!”, and a crucial prayer for help.
The film’s moral vision is marred by rough language, drunkenness, and extreme violence. Its western framework also presents justice as depending heavily on individuals because the law is ineffectual against evil and lawless men. Rooster embodies the isolated Western hero: he defends civilization and understands the wilderness but ultimately belongs fully to neither.
Still, the story’s emphasis on chivalry, courage, justice, and grace aligns with important biblical values. “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion” (Proverbs 28:1).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Very strong Christian worldview with some very strong American, moral, biblical values about justice, chivalry, manners and etiquette, doing right, fortitude, completing a hard and difficult job, and courage or bravery and that includes explicit references to the Grace of God being the only thing in life that’s free, to Proverbs 28:1 and to the Book of Ezekiel, plus character says, “Praise the Lord!” and heroic character prays to the Lord for help at a crucial moment and apparently gets it, marred by some rough language and drunkenness; seven obscenities, five GD profanities and one light profanity; one scene of very strong violence with images of blood when villain cuts off fingers of companion about to talk and the Marshal shoots the villain in the head, plus some strong violence such as shootouts, rifle blasts, corpse hanging on tree, image of three frozen corpses, man trapped under fallen horse, character bit on hand by rattlesnake and another character cuts hand to suck out the poison, hero hit on head, girl sleeps in funeral parlor with corpses, villain hit on head, and man places boot and knife on girl’s throat, threatening violence; no sex but young man tells sassy girl he was thinking about kissing her; no nudity; alcohol use and drunkenness; smoking; and, police officers insult each other because one is a green Texas Ranger and one is a veteran U.S. Marshal, woman rebukes man for not standing up when she appears, and hero admits he once robbed a bank as a youth but claims he never robbed “no citizen,” but villainy and rude behavior get their comeuppance.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Mattie believes that only God’s grace is free. How is grace different from earning justice, repayment, or revenge?
Ephesians 2:8–9 · Romans 12:19Mattie shows courage when facing danger and difficult people. What does biblical courage look like when you are afraid?
Joshua 1:9 · Proverbs 28:1The story values chivalry, manners, and standing up for what is right. How can you show courage and respect in ordinary situations?
Micah 6:8 · Philippians 2:3–4The film presents violence as part of frontier justice. What limits does Scripture place on personal vengeance?
Romans 12:17–21 · Matthew 5:38–44The Final Word
TRUE GRIT is an unforgettable, well-made western with stirring Christian themes and a powerful spirit of justice and chivalry. Its strong profanity, drunkenness, and extreme violence make it unsuitable for children and young teens. For discerning adults, it is WORTH THE TRIP — ADULTS ONLY. For family-friendly alternatives, see.
