Review of No Country for Old Men (2007) by Bjorn B — 04 Aug 2013

No Country For Old Men follows the same footsteps as the Coen Brothers previous just as dark and witty drama Fargo. But that is where the a likenesses stop because unlike Fargo, No Country For Old Men manages to thrill the audience on an even higher scale. It sees a small town sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) attempting to prevent the likely demise of a hunter Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) who stumbles upon a drug deal gone wrong and more than two million dollars in cash near the Rio Grande. Which happily leads to Javier Bardem. A ruthless, psychopathic hitman that wants Moss in the palms of his hands. So does this film seem simple enough to you. I mean, it is a cat and mouse chase film, that in small places reminds us of the Terminator but how simple this film may appear it certainly does one thing. It stands out from the crowd, with its exceptional writing and directing, this film is a flawless adaption of Cormac McCarthy's Novel. I don't think there is another screenwriter or director that can touch what the Coen Brothers have achieved here, however saying that we do have Quentin Tarantino for Pulp Fiction, but you get the picture. In No Country For Old Men, it is very much like a battle between Heaven and Hell, with one man caught in the middle. That man being Moss. With the four Oscars this film managed to achieve Javier held his Oscar up high with his supporting role as Anton Chigurh. Which maybe I wouldn't go as far to say it is deserved but it was certainly earned.

To say that Chigurh isn't a character is faulty. It's like saying the film is beautiful except that, that and that. Just because Chigurh doesn't act with the same motivations of other movie killers, doesn't mean he isn't a character. As one great man said just because you are a character, doesn't mean you have character. Chigurh represents something more. You could even say he is the Hannibal Lector of the crowd with his random questions and subjects of conversations, not to mention his strong psychopathic nature. Chigurh is often referred by peers (not friends) as 'crazy', which is accurate but surly there is more to him than that, isn't there? He has a very easy mind but remains strong and firm against the moving world surrounding him. He clearly works solo and it doesn't feel that he works for anyone (Well I don't think he does anyway). He doesn't get angry when his life is in serious danger but more annoyed and frustrated when Moss' wife won't call heads or tails or when a receptionist won't tell him where Moss works. We see him toying and having fun with people, like the clerk at a gas station who married a wife who was into the gas station business. The interesting thing about this confrontation is you see that Chigurh isn't only just a killer, but he's not afraid to tell it like it is.

I can genuinely say No Country For Old Men is one of my favourite films of this decade if not of all time and a clear Oscar grabber as its great writing, great acting and superb directing ensures that. However to fully appreciate this film it needs to be viewed several times but that's okay because it deserves to be seen more than once. Verdict: Films don't get much better and sophisticated as this and even though it is a cat and mouse chase film it certainly isn't predicable and has surprises around every corner. This film of course gets an A+.