Review of No Country For Old Men

Call It, Friendo

Three crime fiction masterpieces, all by the same directorial team. Is that even possible? Obviously it is because the Coen Brothers have done it. Blood Simple was there first foray into film and crime fiction and what was produced was an amazing thriller that saw three men do things they thought they could get away with but in the end when dealing with murder, it's never that simple. Fargo was their first true masterpiece that took a brutal crime and placed it in a town that couldn't understand the brutality of it but dealt with it all the same. And finally No Country For Old Men reaches that crescendo of amazing crime fiction that is an incredibly entertaining thriller but also an intriguing story that comments on society and the violence that infects it.

Josh Brolin plays Llewelyn Moss who goes hunting in the desert and happens along a drug deal gone bad that leaves no survivors and a shit load of money that leads him to the dumbest decision he has ever and will ever make: he keeps it. Javier Bardem plays Anton Chigurh who is hired to hunt down Llewelyn and retrieve the money but what his employer gets is more then he bargained for as Chigurh goes on a murder spree that is like a tidal wave of violence that can't be stopped, neither by man or by nature. Tommy Lee Jones plays Sheriff Ed Tom Bell who is the tired old Sheriff of a once quiet town that is rocked by Chigurh's rampage. On the verge of retirement, Ed Tom serves as the commenter on the event's that take place.

All three actors shine in their respective roles, including Woody Harrelson who shows up midway through the movie as a second bounty hunter who knows Chigurh from past interactions and knows what everyone is in for when Chigurh is let loose. But it's Javier Bardem who is the highlight of the cast playing the merciless bounty hunter who has a twisted set of principles as the reasoning for his actions. Bardem plays Chigurh as a sort of messenger of death and never humanizes him but never detaches himself from the part. He plays it subltely and it works incredibly well. You'll never forget Chigurh after watching the movie because he's like Hannibal Lector, he's one of the most haunting psycopaths ever put on screen.

The script is exactly what you'd expect from the Coen Brothers. It's sharp, funny, and it gets to the point. Not a scene or line of dialogue feels unnecessary or trite. Having a Cormac McCarthy novel as a basis for your script helps a lot but the Coen's infuse enough and cut enough from that original story to make it perfect in every way. Lines like "A man would have to put his soul at hazard. He would have to say okay, I'll be part of this world." and the whole scene between Chigurh and the gas station owner are incredible and are just two examples of many that make this a great script.

The Coen's are as good directors as they are writers, creating the perfect atmosphere for each scene. They make movies that are fast paced and thrilling. None of it seems rushed or out of place, instead they create a seamless flow of events that are suspenseful and thought provoking at the same time. The scene in the hotel when Chigurh catches up to Llewelyn for the first time is mind blowingly suspenseful and expertly crafted that it's hard not to flinch as the action happens.

All in all, it's a masterpiece. Simple as that. Treating violence as an inevitable part of society and the escalation that it will go through, the Coen Brothers have made a movie that is at once a good and evil story but also a dissection of violence and the impact it has on people.

Posted on 01/03/08 by: matt2648 12:28 AM