No Country for Old Men-2007
Director Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin
Scott’s Review #745
Reviewed April 19, 2018
Grade: A
No Country for Old Men, made in 2007, is arguably Joel and Ethan Coen’s greatest work save for the amazing Fargo (1996).
Achieving the Best Picture Academy Award and appearing on numerous Top Ten lists for its year of release, the film is one of their most celebrated.
Containing dark humor, offbeat characters, and fantastic storytelling, adding in some of the most gorgeous cinematography in film history, No Country for Old Men is one of the decade’s great films.
The time is 1980, and it’s set in western Texas as we follow the dangerous hitman Anton Chigurh, played wonderfully by Javier Bardem.
He escapes jail by strangling a deputy and is subsequently hired to find Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), a hunter who has accidentally stumbled onto two million dollars in a suitcase that Mexican smugglers are desperate to find.
In the mix is Sheriff Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), who is pursuing both men. Moss’s wife, Carla Jean (Kelly Macdonald), in turn becomes an important character as she is instrumental in the web of deceit the chain of events creates.
The film subsequently turns into an exciting cat-and-mouse chase with a dramatic climax.
The crux of the story and its plethora of possibilities are what make the events so exciting to watch. As characters are in constant pursuit of each other, the viewer wonders who will catch up to whom and when.
One quality that makes the film unique with an identity all its own is that the three principal characters (Moss, Bell, and Chigurh) seldom appear in the same scene, adding a layer of mystery and intrigue.
The hero and most well-liked of all the characters is, of course, Sheriff Bell- a proponent of honesty and truth. In contrast, the other two characters are less than savory types, especially the despicable Chigurh.
My favorite character in the story is Chigurh, as he is the most interesting, and Bardem plays him to the hilt with a calm malevolence- anger just bubbling under the surface.
One wonders when he will strike next or if he will spare a life, as he intimidates his prey by offering to play a game of chance, the toss of a coin to determine life or death.
He is one of cinema’s most vicious villains. With his bob-cut hairstyle and his sunken brown eyes, he is a force to be reckoned with by looks alone.
True to many other Ethan and Joel Coen films, the supporting or even the glorified extras are perfectly cast and filled with interesting quirkiness.
Examples of this include the kindly gas station owner who correctly guesses a coin toss and is spared his life. My favorite is the matter-of-fact woman at the hotel front desk, with her permed hair, who gives as good as she gets, and her monotone voice is great.
It is these smaller intricacies that truly make No Country for Old Men shine and are a staple of Coen Brothers films in general.
Many similarities abound between Fargo and No Country for Old Men, not the least of which is the main protagonist being an older and wiser police chief (Marge Gunderson and Tom Bell, respectively).
Add to this a series of brutal murders and the protagonist being from elsewhere and stumbling upon a small, bleak town. Of course, the extreme violence depicted in both must be mentioned as comparable.
Having shamefully only seen this epic thriller twice, I find No Country for Old Men (2007) a dynamic film, reminiscent of the best of Sam Peckinpah’s classics, such as The Getaway (1972) or The Wild Bunch (1967).
The Coen brothers cross film genres, blending thriller, western, and suspense that rival the greatest of Hitchcock’s films.
I cannot wait to see it again.
Oscar Nominations: 4 wins-Best Picture (won), Best Director-Joel and Ethan Coen (won), Best Supporting Actor-Javier Bardem (won), Best Adapted Screenplay (won), Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing