Violence and mayhem ensue after a hunter stumbles upon some dead bodies, a stash of heroin and more than $2 million in cash.
Every so often you come across a film so well crafted that to give it five stars feels like underselling it: the Coen brothers' 2007 thriller "No Country For Old Men" is just such a film.
Its plot is far from complicated, it boils down to the simple story Llewellyn Moss (Josh Brolin), a man who happens across a large sum of money and finds himself pursued by the man hired to reclaim it.
However, in this case the latter man is no ordinary hired killer, Javier Bardem's Oscar nominated portrayal of Anton Chigurh creates one of the most chilling villains to grace the big screen in quite some time, hunting his prey in a manner both meticulously methodical and unflinchingly ruthless; immediately dispatching of anyone who impedes upon his mission in even the slightest way.
Throughout the film he displays no empathy or sense of morality, he simply has a task he must complete. Bardem's performance is virtually perfect, showing no emotion other than slight amusement at other people's inability to comprehend his view of the world and convincingly portraying a man without a conscience who's sole purpose in life is the destruction of his target.
It's hard to think of anyone else who could've made Chigurh so scary that not a single character would mock his truly horrendous bowl-cut hairdo but Bradem pulls it off.
Chigurh is the film's crown jewel; he cannot be reasoned with or bribed and appears as immune to gunfire as he is to emotional appeals. He is perhaps the personification of death itself. Even seemingly innocuous conversations with passers by and shopkeepers give you the sense that the other person only lives because Chigurh allows it and that one wrong answer will quickly see that change.
Whilst the film's antagonist is undoubtedly its greatest strength, its hard to find fault with any other element of the film. The entire cast is on incredible form; Brolin is an easy to empathise with protagonist, tough and pragmatic, trying to take advantage of a occurrence that could provide a better life for his family (or stealing money from deceased drug dealers and running away if your of a more cynical disposition).
Tommy Lee Jones excels as the local Sheriff, weary of how much more violent the world seems than when his father was in charge and even those with little screen time like Kelly Macdonald and Woody Harrelson give more than solid performances.
The Coen brothers a without question two of the greatest directors of their time, their style and dark sense of humour is unmistakable in all there films and few if any of their works see them on better form than in "No Country For Old Men". There skill as directors is evident throughout, the early sequence in which we watch Moss hunt and discover the money that sets the film's plot in motion is a thing of beauty and a lesson in how to direct, tracking Moss across a desolate landscape, following his progress without wasting a single shot.
However, we see them at the height of their powers when paired with Bardem, their directing talents and his chilling performance give us scenes that couldn't have been more tortuously suspenseful if Hitchcock himself was behind the camera.
"No Country For Old Men" has provided cinema with one of its greatest villains, one of its worst haircuts and one of the best films of its decade.
When it comes to the Coen brothers, I tend to like the films most people don't (e.g. 'Intolerable Cruelty') and hate the ones most critic's love (e.g. 'Fargo', 'The Big Lebowski'). But for once we're all in agreement; as their adaptation of Cormack McCarthy's novel is stripped down, brass tacks filmmaking at its best; its John Sayles, Penkinpah, Dahl and Tarantino all rolled into one. This tense, vicious, ultraviolet thriller about a lone psychopath (excellent Javier Bardem) on the rampage, is probably the sibling's most accomplished work to date, with an impressive transitional performance by erstwhile soap star Josh Bolin, strong support by the underrated Kelly Macdonald and a typically laconic, if somewhat over familiar, turn by Tommy Lee Jones. 'No Country For Old Men' is a kinetic meditation on the nature of violence; as Bardem's cold blooded killer occasionally decides a victim's fate on the toss of a coin; alluding to a string of characters from Batman's Harvey 'Two Face' Dent to George Cockcroft's 'The Dice Man' and Robert Forster's Jake Nyman in Paul Chart's 'American Perfekt' (1997). Javier Bardem also stated in an interview that his character was, in some ways, the manifestation of U.S. imperialism; in his ruthlessness and wanton brutality, for its Bardem who steals the show: turning in another bravura performance, albeit one that doesn't fully employ the imposing Spaniard's Burton-esque vocal power and eloquence. A film of immeasurable intensity with a taut narrative structure and raw power that resonates with the kind of fury we haven't seen in cinema since 'Bloody Sam' sent Warren Oates on a deadly mission to find Alfredo Garcia's bonce. Graphic violence aplenty, but with just enough scope to address the wider implications of its character's motives and actions. An instant classic
Deserving board-sweeper at this year"s Oscars, the Coen Brothers" latest offering has been widely touted as their greatest yet. No Country for Old Men sets sparse, deadpan dialogue under the wide-open skies of 1980s Texas, where a collection of doomed, Stetsoned characters stalk the motels and scrubland hunting cash, blood and justice. Thick with pitch-black humour and laced with callous violence, this is a film as bleak as it is tense. Based on Cormack McCarthy"s fine novel, the film is driven by a simple, compelling plot. Josh Brolin plays Llewelyn Moss, a man who steals a suitcase full of dollars from the bloody desert scene of a drug deal gone wrong, and is pursued for his riches by Anton Chigurh (Javier Barden), a clinical killer armed with a gas-powered device designed to slaughter cattle.
The Coen"s deft, minimalist treatment gives plenty of room for the actors to explore their quiet characters. Barden"s laconic performance is uniquely menacing as a callous, deliberate murderer. Similarly Brolin gives a beautifully restrained performance as the man on the run, and the film refuses to offer any release, any safety valve, for the mounting tension, built pace by pace in one scene by the measured creak and tap of approaching boots on motel floorboards. The tale"s early, tragic climax is sudden and resonates throughout the film"s extended, melancholic closing section in which the economic dialogue of the previous hour is replaced with philosophizing on the part of Sherriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) who is numbed and bewildered by the events around him.
Scored by a soundtrack featuring nothing but the desert wind, No Country For Old Men is a brilliantly sophisticated thriller that oozes style and masculinity, and would stand alone as a tough-talking, modern-day western even without the broader, more sensitive themes it subtly introduces. Age is considered, as implied by the title, and it is the adjustment of the rural south itself, personified in Tommy Lee Jone"s ageing, sagacious Sheriff, that is analysed. The Coens neatly juxtapose old and new, telling the story of a hunt in which the quarry is tracked through motel land in a jeep, showing us the machinegun strewn site of a shoot out walked over by a sheriff on a horse, and a man running for his life through an open desert, then talking his way through a border control. Fate too is subject close to the film"s heart, there throughout Chigurh"s relentless pursuit of Moss and in his straight-faced question to a potential victim, "what"s the most you"ve ever lost on a coin toss?"
Throughout though, masculinity carries a premium and this is a story of men acting on their instincts, however psychopathic. But the film draws back and develops a broader perspective, in keeping with the vast landscapes and widescreen skies that frame the action, and elevating No Country For Old Men from a work of fiction to a work of art.
Much has been written about this film. It has been acclaimed by the critics and rejected as "disappointing by a few.
The plot is simple enough adapted from Comac McCarthy's novel and given the treatment by the Coen brothers. A combination which should,at very least, produce a "good" film
However "No Country For Old Men" is an exceptional film.
The mood is set with superb, atmospheric shots of the Texan landscape.
Llewellyn Moss [Josh Brolin] is out hunting and in this unforgiving landscape discovers the fly ridden bodies of a brutal slaughter. The bloody and shocking result of a failed drugs deal. Among the corpses he finds the booty - a bag containing some $2million.
He takes it and from that moment he is a condemned man, a hunted man; his fate is sealed.
On his track is a killer Anton Chigurh [Javier Barden]arguably one of the most chilling psycopaths portrayed on film. An intelligent ruthless killer, who decides who lives and who dies with the toss of a coin. Barden superbly portrays the cold, unemotional, relentless determination of a natural killer.
Tommy Lee Jones is perfect as the sherrif. Nearing retirement and world weary he finds himself caught up in this sequence of bloodshed and violence, which to him is mystifying and incomprehensible.
There is nothing superfluous in this film.
The script is sharp edged with black humour,there is no relience on special effects and the total lack of music enhances the feeling of foreboding.
Yes, the ending is unpredictible and and may leave some feeling disappointed or even frustrated,but all round this is a "must see" film with superb acting and directing and photography This is not a film to enjoy but rather a film to experience.
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Please note this is a region 2 DVD and will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play. The Academy Award winning adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's violent, poetic and darkly funny crime novel No Country For Old Men sees The Coen Brothers produce their finest thriller to date. Set amongst the wild, empty, and imposing landscape of 1980s Texas, No Country For Old Men is a masterly tale of the good, the deranged, and the outright doomed. Approaching retirement, Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) is one of the last links to the history of Texas' Old West and the men who patrolled the frontiers of decency and lawlessness. These days, though, he feels less and less able to comprehend the new breed of violent criminals that have drifted into his jurisdiction. Violent men like Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem): an enigmatic, psychopathic, and obsessively compulsive killer who determines the fate of his victims with a quick flip of a coin. Chigurh, an ex-special-forces operative turned hit man, has been hired to track down two million dollars in cash taken from the scene of a drug-deal gone awry and whoever spirited it away. That man is Llewellyn Moss (Josh Brolin): a financially struggling hardened Vietnam veteran who stumbled upon the money and a substantial amount of heroin amongst a sea of bloody corpses and a bullet-strewn truck whilst hunting antelope in the desert near the Mexican border. McCarthy's melancholic and muscular prose is a perfect match for the Coen brothers' unique brand of poker-faced irony. The narrative ellipses entwine with the Coens' modern noir nonchalance and dark humour to highlight and explore the similarities and differences of Moss, Chigurh, and Bell as they try to track one another down. With dark intelligence and an unstoppable array of sly wit, No Country For Old Men is reminiscent of Joel and Ethan Coen's early neo-noir motion picture Blood Simple and their much-lauded Academy Award winning Fargo and is a cat-and-mouse chase epic that engages and excites from beginning to end. Actors Tommy Lee Jones, Woody Harrelson, Josh Brolin, James Brolin, Stephen Root, Kelly MacDonanld, Garret Dillahunt, Javier Bardem & Jason Douglas Director Ethan Coen & Joel Coen Certificate 15 years and over Year 2007 Screen Widescreen Languages English - Dolby Digital (5.1) Duration 2 hours and 2 minutes (approx)
The Coen brothers' stripped down and gritty chase thriller has a Vietnam vet desperately trying to give the slip to a relentless killer. While out hunting in the barren wilds of Texas, Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) discovers the aftermath of a drugs deal gone wrong, with dead bodies, heroin and a case filled with $2million in cash. Deciding to take the money, Moss says goodbye to his wife (Kelly MacDonald) and takes off to plan his next move. It's not long before he discovers he's being followed by psychopathic ex-special forces hitman, Chigurh (Javier Bardem), who decides his victim's fate, guilty or not, on the toss of a coin. As Chigurh raises the bodycount, gaining ever nearer to Moss, he in turn is hunted by local Sheriff Ed Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), a seen-it-all-before cop, who could do without the excitement.
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