Joel And Ethan Coen, those mischievous moviemakers from Minnesota,
charm and vex audiences once more with No Country For Old Men. Winner of the
Best Picture Oscar for 2007, NCFOM may disappoint viewers who are expecting a
rerun of Fargo, the Coen’s darkly witty crime thriller that just oozed plenty of
black-hearted cynicism. There’s a different type of cynicism on display in NCFOM,
which deals with a hunter named Llewelyn
Moss (Josh Brolin) who stumbles across several dead drug runners and a large
sum of money in the arid Texas desert. Seeing his chance, Llewelyn grabs the
money and makes off with it. A veteran of two tours of duty in Vietnam, Llewelyn
is shrewd enough to know that somebody will be looking for the money, and takes
plenty of steps to ensure that he keeps it.
But he has no idea just who--or what--is coming for him. Anton Chigurh (Javier
Bardem) is an unrelenting hitman of near-legendary status, and he’s truly a
force of nature within this film. Coldly methodical, with a dead-eye gaze and a
penchant for using an air gun, Chigurh is the perfect definition of the term
"soulless one." He literally kills everyone whom he comes into contact with--save
for a witless gas station clerk who just happens to make a lucky call when
Chigurh flips a coin. Although utterly psychotic, Chigurh still has his own
weird personal code of ethics. Bardem, who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for
this role--and deservedly so--is fascinating to watch, but in a morbid way. You
really wouldn’t want to have a beer with this guy.
Tommy Lee Jones turns in another great performance as Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, the
local sheriff in the district where the drug deal went bad. An old timer who
fondly recalls the days when many sheriffs never wore a gun while on duty, Bell
feels overwhelmed by the violence and viciousness that has sprouted up around
him. Always one step behind Chigurh, Bell also begins to feel that he’s a step
behind the times, as well. NCFOM is captivating in how much it feels like a
western, with its blending of modern day mythology (Moss, a hunter, first
encounters his epic adventure much like the heroes of olden lore, while chasing
a deer) with a world-weary rumination on the overtly sadistic nature of humans.
If you’re expecting a hot and heavy action film, you may be disappointed. The
Coens, who adapted the Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name, instead offer a
stark, emotional story about how people desperately try to survive in what is essentially a
world devoid of morals--and how, regardless of how innocent they may be, nobody
really escapes fate’s fickle finger. No Country For Old Men is very bleak, but it’s also an extremely
thought-provoking, and gripping, movie that will stay with you for days after
you see it.
--SF
Main Review Page | Drama Page |Email Me | Buy This DVD Here!
