Quick Review: True Grit

I'm not sure if it's good that, when someone remakes a movie, either I never saw the original or saw it so long ago that it's not fresh in my mind. So I can't compare the new version of "True Grit" to the original. I can say that it's very, very good but I can't quite put it in the "exceptional" category. There's strong acting from everyone -- Jeff Bridges as U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn, Matt Damon as LaBoeuf. the Texas Ranger, Josh Brolin as Tom Chaney and young Hailee Steinfeld as 14-year-old Mattie Ross, whose father was killed by Chaney, leading her to hire Cogburn to track him down. It was just a bit slow to start, and there were a few times when I had trouble understanding what Cogburn was saying (not sure if this was something Bridges was doing or a sign of hearing loss/lack of paying attention on my part -- yikes). But there are moments when it truly rises to the occasion. Just not quite enough to raise this grade...My grade: B-plus.