Far too often for True Grit to quite overcome, [Wayne's] larger-than-life turn flirts with, if not outright topples into, self-parody.

By growing old disgracefully as the fat, swaggering Rooster Cogburn, Wayne proves he can act -- and solves his own senior-citizen problem in one master stroke.

Although some say Wayne's Oscar was given out of sympathy instead of his performance, he still acts well as the sheriff who's past his peak.

The filmmakers lean on Wayne, who gives die-hard fans access to a rich performance that, for many, forgives all else that remains so clumsy about the picture.