No Country for Old Men

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Horrorphile - January 2008

No Country for Old Men

January 10th 2008 00:41

The Coen brothers have made some exceptional films. They make films for movie buffs, or to be more precise, they make movies for cinephiles. Generally they excel at the art of cinematic storytelling, producing a body of work to rival most, if not all, of their contemporaries. However, it’s by no means a flawless resume, some of their films haven’t done much for me; Miller’s Crossing was too dense, The Hudsucker Proxy irritated the hell out of me, O Brother, Where Art Thou? bored me to tears, Intolerable Cruelty was insufferable, and I didn’t even bother seeing The Ladykillers, it just looked bloated and ridiculous. I'm probably being overly harsh, but in recent years I’d become concerned the Coens were losing their edge.

I can quite comfortably say the brothers have re-claimed their mojo. No Country for Old Men (2007) is the best film they’ve made in years; in fact, I’d go so far as saying this is one of the best films they’ve ever made, up there with Blood Simple and Fargo. It’s cinematic storytelling par excellence. And to throw a slant on the perspective, I look at this film as a post-modern horror movie.

Funny what you'll find at the end of a dead man's boots

I dream of writing screenplays as rich and textured, yet as languid and minimal, as No Country for Old Men. Intriguingly this is the first movie the Coen brothers have made based on a novel. In this case the cult favourite penned by Cormac McCarthy. I haven’t read the book, but apparently the brothers have lifted whole sections from it, especially dialogue, yet they’ve added the Coen stylistics and made the narrative distinctly their own.

Josh Brolin as Llewelyn Moss

In an opening not too dissimilar to their debut Blood Simple we see stretches of beautiful, but arid desert landscape and a voice-over drawl ruminating over the quieter old days. It is the voice of Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), an ageing West Texas lawman keen to retire.

Tommy Lee Jones as Sheriff Bell

It’s 1980. Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) is hunting pronghorns down on the open plain with his sniper-rifle, later he discovers the scene of a drug deal gone wrong; several dead Mexicans and a dead pit-bull, a ute full of smack, and up by a tree another dead hombre with a briefcase full of $2 million smackeroos. Moss contemplates and takes the money.

Find suitcase with big moolah, will travel

Later he returns to the scene of the crime to give water to one of the Mexicans who was not quite dead. This was a silly decision as more men arrive who wound Moss and begin to pursue him. Meanwhile a lone gunman (actually armed with a scary-looking compressed air bolt-action cattle-gun) named Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) enters the picture. He too becomes involved in the pursuit for the cold hard cash, and he’s a killing machine. Soon a bounty hunter Wells (Woody Harrelson) is hired to intervene and control the relentless Chigurh.

Javier Bardem as uber-killer Anton Chigurh

The plot feels complicated, yet unfolds in a brilliantly sustained and pared-back fashion; like a tattered and blood-stained tapestry being slowly unrolled, until eventually it’s pulled out from underneath. Certainly the movie captures that often elusive literary essence, when adapting from a novel. When the movie finishes it initially seems rather abrupt, but in the grander scheme of things it is a perfect closure, an intense study of crime and violence where there is good and evil and a definite blurring in between, where there is suggestion of things to come, but with no need to go there. Murphy’s Law reigns supreme in No Country for Old Men, just as life itself is filled with dark irony and ill-matched confrontation. There is greed and there is loss, and as the movie’s taglines say, “There are no clean getaways … There are no laws left … You can’t stop what’s coming.”

And I got such a long way to go, to make it to the border of Mexico

Everything about this movie is top grade (art direction, cinematography, music, editing, and special effects make-up) and, like Blood Simple, the film is littered with subtle symbolism and sly references. The casting is pitch perfect from Josh Brolin in a career defining performance, to Tommy Lee Jones as yet another endearing officer of the law. Javier Bardem delivers one of the most unnerving villains in recent years, a watery-eyed psychopath with an absurd haircut and deliberate coal-dark principles. He’s a post-modern boogeyman, a terminator in the flesh.

Chigurh exchanges his cattle-gun for a silenced shotgun with equally devastating results

There’s solid support from Garret Dillahunt (Deadwood) as Bell’s naïve deputy, and Kelly MacDonald as Moss’s southern belle wife (although I wasn’t as convinced by her twang as I should’ve), and not forgetting Woody Harrelson as the over-confident hired cowboy (and an effective little plot thickener there).

No Country for Old Men is not for the faint-hearted, yet it’s a kind of treatise on brutalism which many cinemagoers who abhor violence will admire, or at the least, appreciate. It would make a great double feature with The Proposition, another dust-laden portrait of intense violence. Even a triple-whammy alongside The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada.

John Ryder eat yer heart out ...

If the Oscars go ahead this year it will be satisfying to see the Coens reap some serious awards (which they have a strong chance of doing). No Country for Old Men is an instant classic and will reward with repeat viewings (already I can’t wait to own a deluxe edition on DVD), so make sure you see it at least once on the big screen. Joel and Ethan Coen have mustered a black pearl, a gleaming noir that nudges and winks at the horror genre with a knowing eye, then digs its spurs in, and away she rides.

Here's the theatrical trailer:

For two other equally gushing reviews read my cinephilic buddies JD and Cibby's reviews here and here

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews

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Comments

17 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by JohnDoe

January 10th 2008 01:18

Film & TV on DVD

Brilliant review Bryn of a fantastic film. You read my review already so you know what I think.

Comment by Cibbuano

January 10th 2008 02:07

Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak

Top notch all the way... great review, too. A flawless execution, and bewitching to see on screen. From the opening landscape shots to the tense, action sequences, this is one movie that feels like it makes no mistakes...

Comment by Bryn

January 10th 2008 02:11

Horrorphile

JD, not sure if you noticed, but I put a link through to yours at the very bottom of mine. Cheers mate!

Cibby, yeah, gonna have to see this baby again on the big screen methinks. And I quite agree, it seems to make no mistakes, and that's a mighty achievement.

Comment by Bryn

January 10th 2008 02:18

Horrorphile

Cibby, my apologies, I've adjusted and included a link through to your review also, cheers!

Comment by Damo

January 10th 2008 03:03

If it is even half the film of Blood Simple it will be a great film.

Looks to be a very good gangstar drama.

Excellent review

Comment by Miswanderlust

January 10th 2008 03:11

Killer Beats
Ramble On
Hipnotherapy

Bryn
Thanks for the great review. I will definitely see it. I was kind of on the fence. (ha) Off to read JD's post
Mis

Comment by Bryn

January 10th 2008 03:44

Horrorphile

Damo, then consider it quite great indeed then Damo. And cheers too!

Mis, thanks! I enjoyed writing it too ... JD even rang me to give me big props, very nice of him! Yeah, we love this one.

Comment by KylieW

January 10th 2008 04:01

Celebrity Obsession

Glad to hear that you think it's so good. I'm definitely off to see this one - and not just because I love Josh Brolin (I love him a lot. In fact I have a lot of love for the whole Brolin family......but I've strayed off topic!). Anyway, it's good to see someone giving him a solid role to work with.

I haven't loved a Coen brothers film in a while, and nothing they've done outshines Fargo for me. But it's nice to hear from those who know their stuff (ie...you and JD) that this is a return to form.

Can't wait to see it.

Comment by Cibbuano

January 10th 2008 21:16

Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak

thanks for the link, Bryn! I'll put yours and JD's links on mine, too.

To everyone else, what more praise do you need to compel you to watch this?

Comment by D. Armenta

January 19th 2008 01:02

The Florida Keys and Everglades
The Black Sheep Chronicles
What constitutes bad manners?
The male mystique
Debate Fan
L.A.M.P.

No more than this, Cibby!

JD's and Bryn's words are gospel to me..they like all the same movies I like!

Comment by Bryn

January 19th 2008 01:14

Horrorphile

Che che Armenta!

Comment by Miswanderlust

January 21st 2008 01:11

Killer Beats
Ramble On
Hipnotherapy

Bryn
Finally got to see it. So fabulous! Thanks again for the recommendation
Mis

Comment by Bryn

January 21st 2008 04:11

Horrorphile

Mis, glad you liked it! It's one of those movies that when it ends, you're like "Noooo! Continue on! Continue on!! I want more!!!"

Comment by Teresa Ralton

February 23rd 2009 00:39

MRS SMITH
READ THIS
SISTERS IN CRIME

Hi Bryn
I wonder if you will get this, being as the post is so old, but I just started looking at the many reviews on Orble.
I only just saw the film. I didn't know much about the film apart from having won a lot of awards last year and I had in my mind that it was some story about farmers in texas having tough times. I was absolutely engaged for every second. I think this is one of the best, if not "the best" films I have ever seen. I've got to see it again. Even the bit of difficulty I had with understanding some of what was being said does not take points off. I might do a post relating to the reviews and link back. This one is excellent. I am curious - you say you weren't quite convinced by Kelly MacDonalds' twang. Are you American?

Comment by Bryn

February 23rd 2009 03:10

Horrorphile

Hi Teresa,
No I'm actually a New Zealander living in Australia.
Kelly McDonald is Scottish with a thick Scots brogue, which you can hear peeking through her Southern accent every now and again. She's a good actor, but I wasn't entirely convinced.

Comment by Teresa Ralton

February 23rd 2009 03:38

MRS SMITH
READ THIS
SISTERS IN CRIME

Hi Bryn
That's funny because I was born in Scotland and can usually pick up even a trace of Scottish accent but I didn't notice it there. It is something, I know, that can really take you out of the moment when you are watching a movie. And sorry, I'm not saying this to be disagreeable but I've heard Kelly MacDonald speaking naturally and she has a very soft Scottish accent. Believe me, if she had a thick brogue she would almost incomprehensible to a non-Scottish person.

Comment by Bryn

February 23rd 2009 22:33

Horrorphile

Perhaps I'm getting my Scots wires crossed. I was pretty sure hers was quite strong. Perhaps I was confusing hers with Ewan's McGregor's.

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