Totally Different Take on an Old Story | No Country for Old Men

Intense | No Country for Old Men | Javier Bardem, Rodger Boyce

DVDs:


	• No Country for Old Men Javier Bardem, Rodger Boyce Miramax, 2008 average customer review:based on 574 reviews view larger image
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Another Coen Classic

I haven't read the book which this is based on. Other reviewers have indicated it is a masterpiece. If it is, then so is this brilliant film version. What the Coen brothers have done here is make a film that is completely different from mainstream Hollywood, and so far above the mainstream in terms of quality that it makes you wonder how Hollywood manages to survive with some of the rubbish it produces. There is no comparison you can make with mainstream Hollywood. Really you have to look to European cinema to find films made in the similar style.

It revolves around a drugs deal that goes wrong, and mainly follows two characters: Moss who finds the money associated with the deal and the other man wants it back. The second man is psychopathic killer called Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) who in his relentless pursuit kills anything and anyone who gets in his way. Sometimes this is just for fun and he tosses a coin to decide the victims fate. Another unusual aspect of this killer, is the main weapon he uses which is a cattle gun which is fired by compressed air. Not the most convenient of weapons but very effective. In pursuit of both men is Sheriff Bell, played by Tommy Lee Jones. He is really out of his depth. The title of the film is a direct reference to him as far as I can make out.

The Coen brothers film all this in their unique style, with their slightly odd take on the world. However unlike probably all their previous films, this one does not contain much, if any elements of black comedy. Another very unusual aspect to this film is the almost complete absence of a music soundtrack in the film. All the more surprising then when at one point in the film Moss wakes up to find a group of Mexican singers serenading him.

In terms of their previous films this is closest to Blood Simple, but its a much better film than their debut. In fact if I see a better film this year I'll be very surprised.

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Totally Different Take on an Old Story

The basis for this movie is the old conundrum, "What would you do if you found a fortune in drug money?" Would you keep it, leave it alone, turn it into the police? What do you think would happen if the 'bad guys' knew that you had the money?

That's the bottom line of this movie. But there's a bigger picture here, in that the people you are dealing with have no respect for human life. It they did, would they be dealing in death to begin with. One man finds the money, and of course he's a poor guy who could use it. The guys who 'own' the money, want it back and send an ex-special ops soldier (without any compunction of killing) to get it. The local Sheriff is after both of them so as to try and stop the killings. And the 'psychos' people send someone after him because he's gotten out of hand.

What makes this such a powerful movie, is what isn't said. There are parts of this movie where no one says a word. We see their faces, watch their movements, but are left in a eerily wordless world. The world isn't silent, it's just wordless. All of the actors seem to have picked up this ability to make wordless statements about their characters.

In the end, nobody wins, and the 'psycho' goes off to wherever they go when they're not killing people.

Zeb Kantrowitz

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Intense

This movie is great. It gives all of us a look at what is happening in our country. A man thinking he can take 2 million dollars from the drug dealers can only hope to make it. This movies depicts the wars on the southern borders that happens every day here. Both my husband and I would have liked a better ending. It is well directed, well acted and intense. Keeps you watching so you won't miss anything.

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A Tough, Brutal but Classic Crime Movie

At least for me this film grabbed my attention and held it hostage all the way thru the show. I highly do not recommended it for the young or the faint of heart.
Having said that I wish to say that it was one of the best films that I have seen this year. The writing was 1st rate with a lot of unexpected twists and turns. The Cast was also up for the challenge especially for Mr. Jones and Mr. Brosin. But it was Mr. Bardem who stole the show as a symbol of incredible evil and injustice. You could easily believe that he was pure evil in his insane way in the beautiful setting of West Texas. Altogether a great morality tale of our times.

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The Coen brothers make their finest thriller since Fargo with a restrained adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel. Not that there aren't moments of intense violence, but No Country for Old Men is their quietest, most existential film yet. In this modern-day Western, Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) is a Vietnam vet who could use a break. One morning while hunting antelope, he spies several trucks surrounded by dead bodies (both human and canine). In examining the site, he finds a case filled with $2 million. Moss takes it with him, tells his wife (Kelly Macdonald) he's going away for awhile, and hits the road until he can determine his next move. On the way from El Paso to Mexico, he discovers he's being followed by ex-special ops agent Chigurh (an eerily calm Javier Bardem). Chigurh's weapon of choice is a cattle gun, and he uses it on everyone who gets in his way--or loses a coin toss (as far as he's concerned, bad luck is grounds for death). Just as Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), a World War II vet, is on Moss's trail, Chigurh's former colleague, Wells (Woody Harrelson), is on his. For most of the movie, Moss remains one step ahead of his nemesis. Both men are clever and resourceful--except Moss has a conscience, Chigurh does not (he is, as McCarthy puts it, "a prophet of destruction"). At times, the film plays like an old horror movie, with Chigurh as its lumbering Frankenstein monster. Like the taciturn terminator, No Country for Old Men doesn't move quickly, but the tension never dissipates. This minimalist masterwork represents Joel and Ethan Coen and their entire cast, particularly Brolin and Jones, at the peak of their powers. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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