Rooster Cogburn

This movie is more than just a lot of fun to watch. John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn are wonderful, but only because they are together. The chemistry between them is electrifying.

Richard Jordan plays his villan role to a "T". He is mean and nasty, and he keeps his character believeable to the end. There is a scene between him and Katharine Hepburn at Fort Ruby that is absolutely brilliant, you could feel the lightning flashing between their characters.

Think about the scene where the wheel broke off the wagon: Hawk gets furious with his men and Jordan's character did a great job with his part: he seem really angry, as if looks could kill. His expressions, well, it gave me the willies.

Don't you agree that Anthony Zerbe created a believeable "Breed". The two of them, Jordan and Zerbe are so believeable together. Remember the scene in the saloon when Hawk learns about the wagon being taken by Rooster? He starts to go out and Breed tells him, that he worked with Rooster for three years...and that he knows that Breed will never take Rooster? There is some great chemistry in that scene! They have tried to make movies like this before, but it hasn't happened yet: movies that made the actors create a film a success that was not relying on special affects alone, but just the characters and the story.

Don't get me wrong, True Grit is a good western and worthy of its classic status, but I've always found John Wayne's first go round as Rooster Cogburn to be uneven, at times colorfully into character but just as often just playing John Wayne. He won his only Oscar for it of course, but he hadn't yet completely found ol' Rooster's voice.

In this sequel co starring Katharine Hepburn, the Duke has every aspect of Rooster down pat. The scenes he and Hepburn share, trading their philosophies and anecdotes while they come to know and admire (and platonically fall in love with) each other is the engine of this film. Forget the plot, it's passable enough but very much secondary, this story gets along strictly on the strength of the two lead characters and it's worth seeing again and again just to watch these two Hollywood legends banter and spar in their one and only movie together.

This was the first John Wayne film I ever saw in a movie theatre (I was 9 years old in 1975) and it made me a lifelong fan. This is easily one of his most entertaining adventures. Hepburn and Wayne together is even more fun than Bogart and Hepburn in The African Queen. A timeless treasure.

Hepburn & the Duke made a fairly decent movie and that's enough reason to see it at least once. The fact that Hepburn has a Father in the movie is suspect, at best, especially since he's not played by Moses himself. But that's besides the point here - they have terrific chemistry and their star power alone could put most of the actors on the screen today to shame. It would have been really memorable if the movie were worthy of them, though.

That does seem to be the general consensus surrounding Rooster Cogburn and I agree. The best asset of the film is easily the performances and chemistry of John Wayne and Katherine Hepburn, who are wonderful individually and together, and I was also impressed with the handsome cinematography, beautiful scenery and rousing score. There are some moments of witty and fun dialogue too.

Conversely, the film is rather sluggishly directed and also the film does drag in spots. I wasn't taken with Richard Jordan, I thought he overacted to the point it was somewhat distracting. The weakest asset of Rooster Cogburn is the story, it feels very cobbled together and is clumsily told.

In conclusion, it is a decent movie that could have been more. That said, Wayne and Hepburn actually prevent it from being any less than it turned out to be. 6/10 Bethany Cox

If you're expecting a highly original western with highly original characters who really stand out amidst the 1975 landscape, rent Bite the Bullet. You won't find those elements in Rooster Cogburn, but you will find two iconic legends of the silver screen, Katharine Hepburn and John Wayne, paired together in pretty much a remake of two movies. Obviously, Wayne is reprising his one-eyed Oscar role, and Hepburn is basically reprising Rose from The African Queen. She's a religious old maid who lives with a male missionary in her family, and when he's killed, she joins up with a rugged heathen-type to get revenge. This isn't a criticism, mind you; I'm just letting you know what to expect. This clean, sweet movie is for the older folks in the audience who grew older alongside the actors, those who don't like the way cinema and the rest of the world have deteriorated. If you long for the good old days and the good old movies, Rooster Cogburn will warm your heart.

Although, speaking of hearts, my one regret of this movie is that it wasn't as romantic as it could have been. The African Queen is one of the greatest love stories, but Wayne and Hepburn develop platonic feelings for each other. There's genuine affection and respect, but don't expect any, "Dear, what is your first name?" cutesy scenes. You will see a remarkable amount of action, given the two leads' age and health. Hepburn can still make it down the rapids and shoot at the bad guys, and even with one eye (and one lung in real life), Wayne can ride a horse and protect his woman.