“Logan” (2017) was good, an action film neatly grounded in watching Hugh Jackman’s metal-clawed but fading Wolverine, in his last journey, mentor Dafne Keen as the dark-eyed ferocious urchin who might be the one to replace him.īut those are exceptions. “Paper Moon” (1973) was good, bringing a deserved Oscar to Tatum O’Neal, and playing off the bristly real-world chemistry between her and her father Ryan. “True Grit” (1969) was good, with the firebrand tomboy Kim Darby a perfect foil for the aging cowpoke John Wayne (and it was a more memorable movie than the Coen brothers’ remake). There have, on occasion, been terrific dramas built around the relationship between a crusty adult and a spiky kid.
