Review: No Country For Old Men

This is a terrific return to form on a par with "Fargo" and other Coen classics, and it's the type of movie that can only get better over time with repeat viewings. When I first see this movie, the first impression I got was that "it is too difficult." Then I watched it several times more, I understood some points the Coens meant.



Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) is a Texan who comes across a drug deal gone wrong in the middle of the desert, but when he takes a suitcase filled with $2 million cash, he goes on the run to stay ahead from a ruthless killer named Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) and a bunch of Mexicans, while a local sherriff (Tommy Lee Jones) follows the trail of dead bodies left by Chigurh and tries to figure out who is responsible. 

 Most of the film's 2-hour running time is comprised of Moss being chased by Chigurh, every once in a while cutting back to Tommy Lee Jones as the local sheriff, who is mystified by the expanding body count all seemingly done by the same man who killed his officer. 

 All three men are extremely resourceful, making the film that much more fascinating to watch them deal with various situations as they come up. One might try to argue which of the three key players is the focal point of the story, but Bardem's clinically ruthless yet always smiling killer will leave the biggest impact. It takes almost an hour before we even learn his name or his reasons for acting the way he does, but much is revealed by a late player in the game played by Woody Harrelson, whose relationship with Anton is never quite clear.

The script is impeccable, easily some of the Coen brothers' best writing, presumably taking McCarthy's best bits and injecting their own flair for character dialogue. The best lines and monologues are given to Bardem and Tommy Lee Jones, the latter who proves to be a natural as a Coen Brothers character. 
Fans of McCarthy's novel might be surprised and delighted by how closely the Coens stick to the tone and plot of McCarthy's novel.

Every bit of my attention is kept rapt to this visually stunning film by the perfectly-constructed shots of the Coens' regular direction. I was literally absorbed in the movie.

Reference

http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/no-country-for-old-men

http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=134048

http://www.ericdsnider.com/movies/no-country-for-old-men