Review of No Country for Old Men (2007) by Horrorboy — 31 Dec 2010

No Country for Old Men is an incredibly taut thrill ride. It starts off with Sheriff Ed Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) discussing to the audience the story about a 14 year old girl who was murdered by her teenage lover because of the fact that he had been in the state of killing someone for an enduring time.

This really sets the mood for No Country for Old Men as Sheriff Bell quickly summarizes the evil that lies deep in our hearts, his voice is flat, calm, and delegate. This in turn he is able to grasp and pull in the audience to forebode what terror may lie ahead.

Then we're able to witness a gruesome murder in the hands of Anton Chigurh, the antagonist. What's so strong about this whole opening act is that Bell analyzes the very true nature of mankind, and then we're able to witness it as a whole ourselves.

This act is brilliant, truly brilliant. Jones delivers his small speech with such clarity and confidence that it all seems too real. The plot is mostly focused on the 3 main characters Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), and Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem).

While hunting antelope in the Texan desert, Moss stumbles upon an unusual scene of a drug deal gone really wrong. There are a few scattered bodies everywhere and a dead dog. After finding at least a dozen kilos of drugs neatly placed in the back of a truck, Moss figures that the money is probably somewhere near.

He makes his way from the site and finds a deceased man with a briefcase in his lap; the contents are 2 million dollars. Moss makes off with the money and leaves town. Chigurh, the most evil soul in films since Hannibal Lecter, tries to hunt down Moss at all costs to get the money back that he thinks is his own, Sheriff Bell is hot on the trail of both trying to hunt down Chigurh and trying to find Moss before Chigurh does.

It sounds like a typical cat and mouse game but it really isn't. The Coen brothers formula works yet again and they are able to deliver a true one of a kind gem. The three main actors are simply flawless and amazing, Chigurh being the best villain since Hannibal Lecter, as said above.

Jones is his normal self taking on a character that is broken and flawed and Brolin is simply dazzling. All three characters are intelligent, each depicting a different personality that exhibits each of their downfall later near the climax of the story.

That saying, Chigurh is unbelievably evil, unbelievably obsessed with his prey, unbelievably haunting, and unbelievably funny. Never have I seen a character as creepy as Bardem's Chigurh that I have cringed and laughed at the same time, he is truly perfect.

The many different shootouts that occur in the film either between Brolin and Bardem, or other characters alike, are mesmerizing at times. The quiet shots of the alleyway shootout between the two is astounding because the quietness leaves so much suspense that you're literally on the edge of your seat waiting for the next shot to be fired.

That famous Coen dialogue is in here as well. There are key moments where it really comes to light, especially the gas station scene with Chigurh and the clerk he tries to play the fate of life with. The interactions between each character is flawless, they all display emotions, react to those emotions, and ultimately deliver a brilliant scene.

What I think is the strongest part of the film, though, is about the last half hour. In that timespan we're able to see these 3 characters for who they really are and what their ultimate goal really is, though the predicaments they face make them fail ultimately and none of the trio really find and take what they were going for the entire time, and almost all three make away with something else entirely.

What's great about that whole scene is that it leaves you to wonder after viewing how these characters fail. Could they have succeeded? Could they have crossed a fatal path with each other? Who knows, and this is what makes it all worth while and it makes you think long after.

After many viewings its easy to spot the discrepancy of the characters and what makes them who they really are and you could easily spot the solutions that they could have accomplished in order to have succeeded in their quests.

The ending is debatable of course but what's so achieving about it is that it ends abruptly, so abruptly like a smack to the face. It leaves you to wonder why it does that, why it ends on such a low depressing note that leaves you in darkness, and why it leaves you to decide wholefully.

No Country for Old Men is a marvel to films, a simple masterpiece that pushes itself far beyond the other boundaries that other films have tried to accomplish. It's underrated in some aspects of course, mostly because of the ending but all in all it is a truly miraculous film that's simply flawless and simply astounding.

It's a twisted story with beautiful moments that delves deep into the dark roots of human nature.