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I recently watched it because I was curious, but it wasn't worth my effort.

This movie tries too hard to be a "Summer of '42" (a film I didn't like), as it spends so much time in the past. I would have thought that since it starts with Mark Harmon's character, the focus would be on him. Instead, most of the emphasis is on his younger self.

There are too many plot holes and this disrupts the continuity of the plot. For example, I have no idea of why the adult ball player was down on his luck and how he managed to have at least some of his fortunes restored, let alone what happened to the girlfriend he was living with in the beginning of the movie.

The side stories with his high school buddy were largely unnecessary and don't really add anything to plot. It's as if they were added to pad out the length of the movie.

The impression I got was that the film was supposed to be about the relationship between Mark Harmon's character and Jodie Foster's, but I was left with more questions than answers.

I can't recommend this film. There are lots of coming-of-age movies that are much better.

I found the re-make to be a major disappointment.

Among its shortcomings is that the fun that characterised the original was most definitely missing. The result is a dry and often boring movie.

Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn? I don't think so. John Wayne was a natural in westerns, but Bridges seems to be out of place. He was good as The Dude, but not here.

Even worse was Matt Damon as LaBoeuf. Admittedly, Glen Campbell's performance in the original was wooden, but Damon's is markedly worse. I've heard livelier dialogue in high school plays.

The Mattie Ross in this one is also disappointing. Her depiction lacks the fiery spirit that Kim Darby's did and that, in the earlier film, adds a great deal to the story.

A re-make of a movie is supposed to be an improvement on an earlier version. ("The Maltese Falcon" is one good example.) This one isn't.

Stick to the original.

I didn't like it. I quit halfway through this one as I found it boring, with nothing happening. I kept waiting for some sort of story to emerge as there didn't seem to be much of a plot to begin with.

There were other things wrong with this movie. In my opinion, Warren Oates was miscast and his performance didn't do the character of Rooster Cogburn justice. In addition, I found the Mattie Ross in this film to be irritating. In particular, she's supposed to be older than the character that Kim Darby portrayed in the original and, presumably, a bit more mature.

This is one movie should be avoided. There are lots of better westerns that are worth watching. This isn't one of them.