Undescribable Perfection

Pretty Good

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

John Wayne returns to his iconic, Oscar winning character of one eyed, colorful deputy marshal "Rooster" Cogburn in this passable sequel (of sorts) to "True Grit". At the beginning of the story, Rooster is stripped of his authority by a judge (John McIntire). But the judge soon changes his tune, and tasks Rooster to bring an outlaw gang, led by Hawk (Richard Jordan), to justice. Roosters' biggest problem: a spinster named Eula Goodnight (Katharine Hepburn) insists on tagging along, because her minister father (Jon Lormer) was murdered by the Hawk gang and she wants to see that they're properly punished."Rooster Cogburn" is no "True Grit", not by a long shot, with a rather redundant story (by actress Martha Hyer, writing under a pseudonym). It's handsomely shot in widescreen, with some decent action (especially a finale on some river rapids), but it gets awfully bogged down in talk, with too much bickering and bantering between our two leads. Hepburn is wonderful, but her character does get annoying at times. The Duke is quite lively and engaging, and his reactions to her sermonizing ways can be pretty funny. Rooster is definitely an old fashioned kind of guy who's not used to this level of feistiness from a lady.The supporting cast is good. Jordan is unsubtle but amusing as the villain, while Anthony Zerbe has a more interesting role as the scout who rides with him. Other familiar character players like Paul Koslo, Jack Colvin, and Lane Smith turn up. Strother Martin gives the tale a shot in the arm with his appearance as the cantankerous McCoy. And Richard Romancito is appealing as a brave, reliable Indian kid who is the third member of the Cogburn travelling party.Admittedly, it's the star power that is the principal value of this movie. But Wayne and Hepburn set off enough sparks to make this pleasant if not exceptional viewing.Six out of 10.

In 1975, John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn had one big movie left apiece to make in their long careers. "Rooster Cogburn" wasn't it, yet this manages to showcase both stars in an amiable-enough timekiller.Sometime after the events of "True Grit," our title protagonist (Wayne) loses his badge but gets a chance to get it back when a band of outlaws make off with a wagonload of nitro. En route to sell the explosives, they happen upon a church community, killing the reverend and making an enemy of his crusty Yankee daughter Eula Goodnight (Hepburn).Never mind the serious-sounding set-up: "Rooster Cogburn" is more playful than earnest, last in a long line of cowboy romps starring Wayne. Wonderfully shot by Harry Stradling, Jr. on location in Oregon, the film scores with plenty of banter between Duke and Kate."You have a lot of brass, Marshall," she tells him. "You will have need of it before we are through.""She sings a loud tune!" huffs Cogburn.Watching Hepburn and Wayne work together for the only time is plenty of fun. I'm not a big fan of hers, but as it turns out her big acting style complements his nicely. "Ayah," indeed!Richard Jordan is on hand as the main bad guy, Hawk. He plays his part even bigger than Wayne and Hepburn do theirs, which doesn't seem possible until you see the movie. You wish with his talent Jordan would have made a better impression, but he's saddled with the butt end of this mule train, having to be the heavy in a film where the action scenes play like the afterthoughts they no doubt were.The director, Stuart Millar, apparently annoyed Wayne with his inexperience. He doesn't do much to keep things moving. "I wish this thing had a little more giddyup to it," Cogburn grunts, meaning a raft he and Eula are riding with their Indian companion, Wolf (Richard Romancito) but perhaps referencing the other vehicle they find themselves on.Still, you do get a lot of fun moments along the film's ever-winding way, with Wayne and Hepburn settling in comfortably to their respective corners. Given how disparate their characters are, you expect more in the way of fireworks than you get, but Millar's emphasis on fun seems the right approach.Screen heavy Anthony Zerbe has a good turn as one of Hawk's riders, while Strother Martin shows up late in the film to pleasing effect. Both character parts are underwritten but effective.Martin was in "True Grit," too, playing another role. You get the feeling Wayne is too; Cogburn here is much mellower and a bit too soft for the workout Eula gives him. Still, I enjoy "Rooster" because I enjoy Wayne, and like seeing him having fun late in the game."Being around you pleases me," Rooster says, in one of his mushier moments. Something of the same sentiment applies for me, too.

The character Reuben 'Rooster' Cogburn first appeared in the 1969 classic 'True Grit', now he is back for another adventure and once again he is accompanied by a feisty woman. In the opening scenes Rooster is fired from his job as a US Marshall on account of the number of suspects he kills but as soon as an army shipment of nitro-glycerine is stolen by a gang planning to use it for a bank robbery he is reinstated. Shortly after the robbery the gang stop in a small settlement in the Indian Territory and kill the preacher and several of the Indians before leaving. When Rooster gets there he finds the preacher's daughter Eula Goodnight and an Indian boy named Wolf; he agrees to take them to the next settlement but they end up sticking with him. Not long afterwards they catch up with the gang and manage to retrieve the wagon load of explosives… it turns out that was the easy part; the gangs leader is determined to get it back and it won't be easy for them to get the cargo back to civilisation when any bump or stray bullet could cause an explosion! While I don't think this is as good as 'True Grit' it is a very entertaining Western with plenty of exciting shootouts, the use of a Gatling gun, some tense standoffs, white water rafting and an explosive conclusion! John Wayne does a great job as the eponymous hero and Katharine Hepburn puts in a solid performance as is bible-thumping companion. Other notable performances come from Richard Romancito as Wolf; Richard Jordan as the gang's leader, Hawk and Anthony Zerbe as Breed, a former colleague of Rooster's who is now working for Hawk. The film is shot amongst some lovely scenery with Oregon filling in for Arkansas.

Looking at some of the other reviews on here I am prone to thinking that I must have watched a different film!Others have criticised the plot but I thought that this was actually one of the best parts of the film! It is no worse than many other Westerns made in the previous 40 years and certainly feasible and not BADLY written(although no "High Noon", or "Destry").The sad thing for me however was watching the two main stars who appeared to be both well past their prime. Although in the case of Wayne the script eludes to this with the Cogburn character being described as "having let himself" and being "old" in no way am I saying that we should not have "old" actors on screen. Indeed I would welcome it. Morgan Freeman, Anthony Hopkins, Clint Eastwood to name but three have all improved with age but both Wayne and Hepburn did not with this one.For large parts of the film it looked like they were simply reading the script and both of them were clearly having difficulty in merely getting up and walking. (Yet miraculously could ride their horses at break-neck speed and operate a raft with amazing dexterity). On top of this there were some really gaping holes in credulity: Hepburn was 68 when this film was made but one of the main elements of the storyline is that her father is killed (played by Jon Lormer who was actually only a year older than she was)! The average life expectancy for white males in the 1880s in America was under 40! (Even less in "The West") and whilst people did live into old-age, they certainly would not have been as "nimble" as Lormer was (in comparison to the leads).I thought that both of the main stars were wooden and overall film was rather "clunky". Anthony Zerbe played his part well but even here was let down but the fact that every time I looked at him I just thought of Clint Eastwood due to the laziness of the costume department!Do yourself a favour and give this one a miss. If you do want to see these stars at their best, watch Wayne in "True Grit" and Hepburn in the "African Queen" instead.