Review of No Country for Old Men (2007) by Zaja — 27 Jan 2008

It's relatively easy to see why reviewers giving scores of 0 and 1 described the film as "disappointing", since it was devoid of any sense of resolution or redemption. It was, as many critics have said, one of the more bleak, nihilistic stories in a long time.

I guess some people expect certain things from a film, and when their anticipations aren't met, well, the film must be bad. What an uninteresting moviegoing experience that must be. For me, when a film defies my expectations, I experience what's called "surprise" (ala when protagonist is killed 2/3 before end, when film stops abruptly and bad guy wins, etc), a generally positive and entertaining experience, which forces me to re-think what have seen so far and/or expect to see, and makes me wonder what the purpose of such a cinematic twist could be.

I believe this is the crucial moment where audiences split: being asked to think too much. As the credits rolled at the showing I saw, a loud guy in front of me told his girlfriend, "How do you pick these movies? Jesus Christ, you pick the worst movies.

" It irritated me, but it didn't surprise me. It's almost seems that for a given cultural product within art or film to be outstanding, the majority of the population has to really dislike it.

And that's a shame. Even if the impeccable technical merits of the film were lost on someone, and the stellar writing, direction and acting were all overlooked, one cannot deny that the ideology that the filmmakers present provides the viewer with one hell of a tough, haunting knot of questions to tease apart for hours and days later.

That's what made it great for me, that the film kept going even after it ended. It wasn't neat and easy, but challenging and unsettling. If you need a film to assure you that everyone lived happily ever after, then please don't see this film.

If you don't mind being entrusted with some of the moral and intellectual heft of a film to mill around on your own, and conclude on your own, like a grown-up, then you are in for a treat.