Truly well done.

(From Newcastle Evening Chronicle)

JOHN Wayne won the Oscar - from his only nomination - as hard-drinking gunslinger Rooster Cogburn in Henry Hathaway's 1969 version of True Grit, adapted from the novel by Charles Portis.

It became a signature role for the actor known affectionately as The Duke, sharing the screen with a young Robert Duvall and Dennis Hopper. Almost 40 years later, Jeff Bridges is nominated for the Oscar for the very same role in Joel and Ethan Coen's masterful reworking, that layers this bloody tale of retribution with the brothers' trademark black humour. It's clear from his first appearance, shifting nervously in a courtroom witness stand, that …