No Country for Old Men

I don't remember being so scared in a movie theater since "Don't Look Now" Here the Coen Brothers take everything a step further with exhilarating ease. The terror was genuine and not because we were rooting for Josh Brolin or anybody in particular. The terror was personal, Joel and Ethan Coen made that terror visceral and tangible. It has to do with our own nightmares. Josh Brolin was a perfect piece of casting because in a way he doesn't have many personal colors. He's one of the bunch, one of us and we could put ourselves in his shoes. That is the art of film narrative expressed in a way that we've never experienced before. I heard people old enough to have seen Hitchcock's "Psycho" in the theaters and what glued them to the screen was their own fear. Well, that's what I've experienced here. Javier Bardem is superb, considering that he's the reason for the fear. He carries a human/inhuman kind of strength and we know he'll get us, sooner or later and if we consider the ending of the film, he might still do. Worthy Oscar winners, all of it and all of them.

While on a hunting trip, a sportsman (Josh Brolin) finds dead men and a stash of cash in the remote back country of West Texas, the result of a drug deal gone wrong. The greedy hunter takes the cash, but soon discovers that the resourceful criminal responsible for the drug deal, an outlaw named Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), has a way of tracking the loot. The hunter thus finds that he is the hunted. Meanwhile, an aging Texas sheriff named Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) is after both the sportsman and Chigurh. The story is set in the early 1980s.

To some extent, this film is a character study of Sheriff Bell, an honest lawman who is wise, observant, grounded in reality, and has a long memory. "No Country For Old Men" is really his story. He doesn't know quite what to make of the drug war that has crossed over from Mexico into Texas; it's something new (for the 1980s); and it makes a land that has always been hostile to settlers even more hostile and dangerous.

The film's premise is quite simple, and the story is straightforward with minimal twists. A lot of time and care are taken with procedural actions: loading a gun, dressing a bloody wound, constructing a pole to retrieve a package from an air vent, for example. Dialogue is minimal; there's lots of silence.

Overall casting and acting are impressive. I especially liked the performance of Tommy Lee Jones who seemed a natural choice for the role of Sheriff. Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin are also well cast. Several minor roles are extremely well performed, like the store owner who is asked to call a coin toss, and the rotund lady who, with a dour face, defies Chigurh's requests in a characteristic Texas twang.

The film's color cinematography is quite good; there are lots of sweeping, wide-angle outdoor shots. I really enjoyed the geographic setting, with that whistling West Texas wind, the silence, and the stunning vistas. It's a landscape that is starkly beautiful. Yet, despite its beauty and wilderness traits, it can quickly turn hostile and unforgiving for anyone unprepared for its hidden risks.

"No Country For Old Men" is a fine film. I'd describe it as a chase story -- character study combo, with elements of noir, especially in the visuals. Violence may be a tad much for some viewers. But given the subject matter, it is entirely appropriate.

No Country for Old Men (2007)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

A hunter (Josh Brolin) comes across a group of trucks with dead bodies everywhere and discovers $2 million in cash, which he takes. Soon a psychotic killer (Javier Bardem) is after him while a local sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones) tries to figure out what's going on. I'll start off by saying that I'm not a big fan of the Coen brothers. With that out of the way, this is certainly the best movie I've seen from them but it goes downhill very quickly in the final thirty-minutes, which are quite horrid to be honest. However, everything before that is masterfully done with a beautiful craft that makes this familiar story come off very original, dark and at times funny. I really enjoyed the slow pace that the film carries but I'm not sure if that's how I should describe it. The movie has plenty of graphic violence and action and what makes it so shocking is that it usually comes out of no where or happens when you don't expect it. The pace of the film is slow but this helps when the violence breaks out. The performances are all terrific with Bardem stealing the show as the psychotic killer. Whenever he's on screen you can't take your eyes off of him and his silent performance speaks more than any words could. I was also very impressed with Brolin who I'm usually hit and miss on. Woody Harrelson has a few nice scenes and Tommy Lee Jones is the old Tommy Lee Jones we all love. The film was a lot of fun until the conclusion, which I thought was quite awful.

Opinions do look to be sharply divided on this typically interesting effort for the Coen brothers. Some hail it a masterpiece, others don't see the appeal at all. While this viewer doesn't quite fit into the former camp, he will say that it's one of the more unconventional examples of crime fiction that one is likely to see. It's much more of a character piece than anything, with some grisly scenes of violence here and there. Based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy, it centres around three characters, one being a poor hunter named Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), who one day stumbles into the aftermath of some drug deal gone horribly wrong. He finds $2 million on the scene and impulsively decides to keep the money for himself, while a mysterious, creepy, sadistic stranger named Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) tracks him down, porting a unique pressurized air weapon. Somewhat involved is a weary Texas sheriff, Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), who's unsettled by what he sees as the changing times. Now, granted, what's going to test the patience of some of the viewers are some of the monologues; this isn't for people who want a straightforward story and who are turned off by philosophical musings. One can hardly fail to notice how low key most of this narrative is; even in the more intense scenes there's never really a sense of urgency. On the plus side, what we do get are some excellent character moments from the solid star trio of Brolin, Bardem, and Jones. The supporting cast is equally impressive - Woody Harrelson, Kelly Macdonald, Garret Dillahunt, Tess Harper, Barry Corbin, Stephen Root, and Beth Grant. The Coens work with some of their reliable prior collaborators such as composer Carter Burwell and cinematographer Roger Deakins. All things considered, "No Country for Old Men" may not be to all tastes, and does require some patience on the part of the viewer. It also doesn't resolve itself in the way one might expect for this genre, and might prove to be less than satisfactory in this regard for some of those watching. There's one fantastic confrontation near the end, but the film closes, curiously enough, after a monologue by Bell about a dream he's had. How much or how little all of this works will be up to the individual viewer. In any event, the actors are all fantastic, especially Bardem, and they make the journey worthwhile. Eight out of 10.

Rural Texas can be hard on anyone, even a rugged and tough Sheriff with a lifetime of exposure to it. No Country for Old Men exemplifies the grit of deep Texas and there's nothing better than a good chase. Tommy Lee Jones as Sheriff Ed Tom Bell balances his dangerous chase for a monster assassin with the equally dangerous chase for a good ole' cowboy that comes down hard on the bad side of some very bad people.

Josh Brolin as Llewelyn Moss finds himself in a dangerous dilemma when he brushes up against a bloodbath of a drug deal gone terribly bad and a satchel with 2 million dollars inside. The man looking for that money is a dispassionate and inexpressive villain, Anton Chigurh played by Javier Bardem. The rest ensues as a thrilling triple narrative, from a determined man with 2 million dollars on the run, only hoping to escape the mess that he stumbled upon, an old man sheriff facing an evil like none he's ever seen, and a psychopathic killer, an unstoppable evil with no remorse and a extraordinary determination to find what is his.

With its blood-soaked scenes, grimy West Texas setting and haunting terror filled moments between characters, No Country for Old Men is both riveting and beautiful. The dialogue is flawlessly delivered and the performances are award worthy. With almost no music in the entire film you're left immersed and focused on how the Coens utilize sounds and silence to score the film. From wind gusts and boot steps on wood floors and concrete, to deafening silence within the dialogue, it's a score that's frightening and precise.

-Eric Statzer