Film Review

No Country for Old Men

I saw the film last night. I liked it a great deal...maybe more-so than There Will Be Blood - and you know I really liked that film. I don't necessarily know what it is about No Country for Old Men that makes it so absorbing. Yeah, it's essentially a "chase" movie, but there's something more to it. Maybe it's the way the Texas setting becomes its own character. Maybe it's the way that, while there's a lot of violence and death in the film, it doesn't feel gratuitous because almost every death hurts you a little. Maybe it's because you care about even the smallest of characters (not including henchmen/thugs). And maybe it's because you love-to-hate Javier Bardem's character.

The basic plot is this: Random drug deal goes wrong. Moss (Josh Brolin) finds the money. Anton Chigurh is a hit man/clean-up artist sent to get it back. Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) brings up the rear. Like I said...essentially a chase movie.

But, it's also a film with multiple themes. The most strident one of all is that it fleetingly shows us a "last stand" of honor, goodness and justice against all that is wrong with the world...evil, corruption, greed, violence, etc.

Each of the three characters above serves his purpose. Sheriff Bell is the good guy. Anton Chigurh is the (supremely) bad guy. Moss is the everyman with a dilemma created by his own actions/decisions. Josh Brolin actually said it best in an interview somewhere (paraphrasing): "it's like the three main characters are all one man split in 3." While I certainly agree with the notion, I must warn you that the Sheriff isn't exactly the type of Sheriff you might think he'd be. He's not your typical "movie cop." He's a good man, but disillusioned and disappointed by the lack of honor in modern (1980 is the time-frame of the film) crime. The Sheriff is the character least involved in the story, but is the character around whose emotions the film is based. He is the Old Man that this isn't a Country For.

Supporting characters played by Kelly MacDonald, Woody Harrelson, Tess Harper, and Stephen Root help round out the cast. Good performances by all.

One odd note: there's not much of a score to the film. I guess it re-enforces the bleakness of the setting. But, the odd thing is that when music does occur, it sounds like horror-movie-music. Weird.

I think it's a Best Picture lock, but I guess we'll see.