No Country for Old Men Reviews

No Country for Old Men is not necessarily the Coen Brothers' best movie, I consider Barton Fink, Fargo, Miller's Crossing and The Big Lebowski better. However it is a great movie, I'd go as far to say it is my definition of a flawed masterpiece(the only other movie I've given that definition to is The Magnificent Ambersons). So why do I call it a flawed masterpiece rather than a masterpiece full stop? Well actually right up to the last twenty minutes, the film was the latter rather than the former. If the last twenty minutes had not felt like a completely different movie, it would've stayed like that. As is the case with all the Coen Brothers' movies, No Country for Old Men is very well made with impressive cinematography, editing and settings. The story is compelling, the direction superb and the script most of the time taut, funny, thrilling and exciting. Josh Brolin and Tommy Lee Jones are excellent in this film, but if I have to give an award to best performance of the film, it would be Javier Bardem in a villainous role that is menacing and chillingly effective. Overall, a great movie but due to the final twenty minutes it just loses out to that extra something. 9/10 Bethany Cox

The Coens truly crafted a film that reflected the spartan, near-Biblical prose of Cormac McCarthy with this adaptation. Just as McCarthy’s novels are sparsely punctuated, filled with austere violence, and alternately terse and brusque, so too is No Country for Old Men. The whole thing plays out like a noir without the fatalistic romanticism with its lead in a situation that finds him punching above his weight and a specter of grim death that feels like the eye of the chaos swirling around him.

 

Roger Deakins remains the secret ingredient and MVP of the Coen brothers’ films, and his provides this bullet-soaked story with a severe look. The Texas deserts have rarely looked as harsh, unforgiving, and duplicitous as they do under his lens. What McCarthy writes, Deakins visualizes with a simpatico emotional texture that’s unnerving and bracing in its impact.

 

I say that McCarthy’s prose is near-Biblical because he renders a vision of the earth that demands blood sacrifice at routine intervals. His is not a benign natural state, but one of vengeance and fury balancing the karmic scales. The violence is as inevitable as it is horrifying. It’s the stillness and vastness of the landscapes that unnerves as one knows something is merely bidding its time before it strikes.

 

It is into this bleak atmosphere that we find Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) as he discovers a grisly murder scene, essentially a drug deal gone horribly wrong. A trail of blood leads to a suitcase filled with two million in cash and off he goes. Following close behind are a psycho killer (Javier Bardem, a revelation as the impassive grim reaper), a hired hand (Woody Harrelson), and a ready-for-retirement cop (Tommy Lee Jones) each with their own aims for finding Moss.

 

In the end, the violence shed throughout is of little consequence as the present-day tilts into madness and the past, despite a repository of folktales and explanatory remembrances, never offers any balm. If, as Anton Chigurgh argues throughout, everything has already led to this moment, then what difference does a coin toss make in the grand scheme of things? Life and death will go on as these are ongoing events on a scale we cannot comprehend.

 

In fact, that sense of things expanding beyond our comprehension is a reoccurring motif throughout No Country. Harrelson drawls out, “you’re not cut out for this” to Moss, but that analysis carries over into Jones’ lawman who sees the brutality before with uncomprehending eyes. A redneck mumbles out, “you can’t stop what’s coming,” and this becomes something a mantra, especially in the embodiment of Anton. While Anton may not view his actions as decisive, the story lends him an aura of spectral justice meriting out (often unholy) blessings and eliciting confessions. Chaos is the organizing principle of this universe, but it’s a near perfectly balanced chaos.

 

Swirling around all of this is the Coens penchant for dry humor. These asides don’t provide punctuation so much gasps in-between mounting tensions. No one’s ever going to mistake No Country for Old Men as a black comedy, but Beth Grant, character actress extraordinaire, as a cancer-stricken matron is a damn hoot in her limited screen time. They look straight into the ever-escalating tension and odious visage of Anton and laugh on occasion to make it all more manageable. It also makes some of McCarthy’s more relentlessly dark visions more palatable. They’re the best at managing these tonal shifts and keeping the wider work feeling of one coherent, complete piece. Behold, one of their masterpieces.      

the movie lefted me headache, so I don't think it is good, no inspiration, no overwheming, cold blooded , I feel no good to see this film,not recommended, oscar Best Picture??? I'm so disappointed. , this is not what I want from "Art" art must inspires you and made you feel something, although it represents violent, " No Country for Old Men" = "No Space for feeling"

I give it 6/10  for good cinematography , great style and actor's performance, but it is not the film worth watching.

One of the best films made by the Coen brothers! Action-packed throughout with some really powerful themes, and a villian that nearly matches Hannibal.

The bleak and unforgiving borderlands of Texas by the Rio Grande are the setting for this triumphant new movie by Joel and Ethan Coen... The Coens are back with a vengeance, showing their various imitators and detractors what great American film-making looks like, and they have supplied a corrective adjustment to the excesses of goofy-quirky comedy that damaged their recent work. The result is a dark, violent and deeply disquieting drama, leavened with brilliant noirish wisecracks, and boasting three leading male performances with all the spectacular virility of Texan steers. And all of it hard and sharp as a diamond.

There is this saying "All roads lead to Rome". That line, however, can be re-phrased as, for this film, "All roads lead to death". The less you know about something or someone, it might kill you. The more you know about something or someone, it might kill you. The world in this film is dominated by a nihilistic madman, a weary, weather-worn sheriff, and a man who stumbled in the wrong frame, thus leading the film into a gritty, violent and unpredictable game of cat 'n mouse. More like T. Rex and sheep. The main themes in the film, there are two, are uncertaincy and paranoia. And these two are highlighted by the repeated uses of coin-toss, motels, doors, and money, the main reason for both.

The Coen brothers handled this film so perfectly that I was left mightily impressed, even though I favour There Will Be Blood more, this films' most strongest rival back in 2008. I guess I'm gonna get into the Prestige/Illusionist argument here. Both films are impressive but Blood had a much better sense of character and surrounding in it, whereas No Country was more interested in the suspense and unforgiving nature of Chigurh. Not to say this film was flawed, just that Blood was better, that's all.

Anyway, the Coen brothers have given us a 20th Century Jason Voorhees with a heart of The Terminator in Anton Chigurh, one of the only few characters who was amazing both in paper and on reel. Chigurh is the de facto ruler of the world he is thrown in and the Coen brothers wasted no time in letting that fact be known. The people in the movie fear Chigurh; What the viewer fears most is his captive bolt pistol, the coolest weapon to be shown on-screen since the Auto 9 in RoboCop. Man, you don't wanna be in the receiving end of it, believe me. The only weapon, probably, to strike fear even in statues in the night when its bullet goes sizzling past by. Anton Chigurh is not only cinema's most creepiest villain, but also one of modern cinema's most feared and most relentless. He kills just like a heart beats; it is his only way to pass the time when he is awake. I bet when he is taking his 40 winks he's probably killing sheep in his dream, or goats in his nightmares. Javier Bardem played him to perfection, to the absolute zenith. With the creepy hairstyle, unique weapon of choice and his oddly good looks (yes, he is good looking, thank you very much), he made Chigurh an iconic character of modern times that will go on to become of all time in a few years. A humourless character in a humourless world. What else do you want?

Josh Brolin was convincing in his role, too, but he couldn't reach to the level of Bardem, no matter how hard he tried, but it was an impressive performance nonetheless. Tommy Lee Jones is a prime example of a love/hate relationship. I like him in some, dislike him in others. This film is the former. I feel like this is what he is cut out for and nothing else. He nailed the Southern accent in this one, something he has done in several other movies. I believe he should just play sheriffs from now on. With Southern accents, of course. Then we have Kelly MacDonald, who was a good eye candy but her performance is nothing to ignore; she is actually better in this than all the other roles she has done. Woody Harrelson is always a welcome. He is one of the only few actors to have achieved the "Dude, you should never leave the screen, even for a second" status. His short appearance, which ends in a memorable death scene, not only puts a smile on your face but makes you go like "Yo bitches! I just saw another Woody Harrelson movie... now I gotta see more", and this is why I'm downloading Zombieland next.

In conclusion, No Country For Old Men is a ferociously violent film that focuses solely on the dark side of action and none of the light side; the one-liners, one-second comic relief and all that.

9.0/10

A pitch-perfect film about violence, death, greed, and hopelessness. Llewellyn Moss stumbles onto a briefcase full of money that brings him anything but good fortune. There are endless scenes of breathtaking cinematography and a poetic ending, which is a welcome change from the clear-cut Hollywood endings that I’ve seen too much of. The characters are endlessly interesting, most notably that of Anton Chigurh. What an enigma; he seems more like a machine or a ghost than an actual human being, and sometimes we think he might believe he is a spectre. This is a favorite movie of mine because of the atmosphere, the editing, the cinematography, the acting, the directing, the sound work… basically everything about this movie is as close to perfect as I’ve seen. This movie is not about the money, nor is it about Llewellyn. Nor is it about Anton. It is about principles, rules, and purposes that people give themselves to live by. It is about the fear of the unknown or the enigma; the incomprehensibility and stoicism of the universe. It is about unspeakable violence, and the idea that the “good ol’ days” were just as dire. That this horrible evil is out there, maybe not physically, but it has existed and will continue to exist until there is no one left to know or care.

Josh Brolin unleashes the furies when he takes their money. Both an extremely effective taut thriller, and a beautifully shot meditation on violence in America. The old men look on helplessly.

No Country For Old Men is something of an oddity when it comes to Academy Award winners. Violent films have won Oscars before (The Departed’s win the year before confirms this) but the recently the Oscars have favoured either the lavish or the ‘important’. No Country For Old Men is certainly not a lavish film and its importance is shrouded in the tonality of a traditional thriller and yet it managed to beat off competition from far more Oscar suitable candidates to win its Best Picture award. I think more than anything else my shock at No Country For Old Men’s victory comes from the Academy Awards rewarding a film I legitimately liked. Usually films I like don’t make the Oscar shortlist or are snubbed in favour of more ‘Oscar Friendly’ fare. I certainly have more favourite films that were also rans (Lost In Translation, Gosford Park, The Insider, Secrets and Lies, LA Confidential, Fargo are all good recent examples) than actual winners.

But even amongst the films that I absolutely loved last year No Country For Old Men seemed like the least likely to win an Oscar. Certainly compared to the likes of The Assassination of Jesse James, Zodiac and There Will Be Blood, No Country For Old Men seemed far too unorthodox to even get short listed. The fact that only No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood got short listed goes a long way to demonstrating my lack of insight vis-à-vis the Academy Awards. If this is starting to sound like I don’t like the film then that was not my intention, No Country For Old Men is probably one of my favourite films of last year and my surprise comes merely from its recognition as a truly great piece of cinema.

Part of my love for the film comes from the fact that despite the Coen Brothers making some of my favourite films of the 1990s, I’d been having trouble connecting with their work since The Man Who Wasn’t There. The dour noir homage was a very nifty piece of filmmaking, clever and buoyed by a fantastic central performance by Billy Bob Thornton. Intolerable Cruelty would be a comedy that barely made me smile and The Ladykillers despite an energetic performance from Tom Hanks would prove to be the first film by the Coens that I actually thought wasn’t very good. Still their decision to adapt Cormac McCarthy’s No Country For Old Men had me very excited, McCarthy’s lean and punishing prose the perfect way to reenergise a pair of directors who seemed to be finally letting the bloat sink in.

Tommy Lee Jones and Javier Bardem are our first focal points in No Country For Old Men. Jones’ Sheriff Ed-Tom Bell provides an opening narration as Bardem’s Anton Chigurh establishes himself as a man with whom not to fuck. These two characters are the central core of the film, representing the old man whose morality is no longer in line with an ever changing world and the vicious embodiment of change. In my view No Country For Old Men is about the morality that people live by, the code and rules of conduct we engage in everyday. The film is about how that code can become untenable as the world around you changes. But it is not a film about how the modern world is becoming increasingly vicious, one of the final conversations in the film shows the world has always been this way, but about how people can become outdated or lost when their own code fails them.

Llewellyn Moss extrapolates on this by choosing to enter a world he cannot hope to survive in, and the majority of No Country For Old Men’s narrative follows his attempts to survive after taking a satchel of money from a botched drug exchange. Even from our first glimpse of Moss, played by the increasingly great Josh Brolin, we understand that he could never hope to survive when squared off with the darkness represented by Chigurh. His first line is even an echo of Chigurh, whereas Moss asks a deer to stay still as he lines up a shot (and promptly misses his intended kill shot) Chigurh asks an innocent bystander to stay still moments before casually executing him with a compressed air gun. This brief moment of duality tells us a lot about the way the film is going to proceed and also sets up the way that Chigurh approaches his victims, cattle for slaying.



Centred largely on Anton Chigurh the few scenes of violence in the film are so brutal, so honest, and so nasty and mean that it creates a palpable sense of dread and unease. Chigurh becomes more than a man in the film; he becomes an ethos, an unrelenting force which destroys everything in its path on general principal. Played pitch perfectly by Bardem, Chigurh is a truly threatening and intimidating force on the screen. Fearless, ruthless and cold blooded. We are given rare insight into his method, scenes which show the careful planning required for his flawless attacks, and it just makes him even scarier. There is just something unnerving about his planning and his innate ability which makes every scene with him in unbearably tense and every scene without him creates nagging doubts and fears that he might just be around the corner.

It’s a testament to the deliberate tone of the film that Chigurh is never allowed to become ‘badass’, in the hands of lesser directors the character could consume the film in a negative way. As it is even when he’s employing cool pieces of weaponry (No Country marks the first time I’ve ever seen a silenced shotgun and it’s a fucking marvellous piece of kit, terrifying but marvellous) you’re still never cheering for or getting excited by the violence. You just want it to stop, which isn’t to say the film is totally joyless. It’s a hard film, but there is the trademark Coen wit. The humour’s there it’s just blacker than a moonless night. From remarks about dead dogs to the dry way Sheriff Bell tells the story of a cattle owner who is paralyzed when trying to kill a steer. But the humour is often incidental to the main story which skirts on the tonal edge of bleak and finds a home in brutal.

When Moss stumbles across a botched drug deal and promptly steals a satchel containing a few million dollars he enters a world his ethical code cannot hope to survive in. His going back to give a survivor some water just proves the point of his inability to live in this new dangerous world. As such his flight from Chigurh and a bunch of pissed off Mexicans is really nothing but the thrashing of an already strung up man, his death is unavoidable and all he can hope to do is prolong the inevitable. Indeed just to stay alive requires Moss to be ever vigil and his one lapse in concentration ultimately leads to his inglorious end. Despite how careful he is, despite how much of a fighter he is, Moss just doesn’t have the ethics or immorality to survive.

Much has been said about the end of No Country For Old Men and the way that Moss’s death is dealt with. Certainly following an earlier confrontation the audience assumes that Moss will be killed by Anton Chigurh. Stalking his prey across the country and leaving a trail of death in his wake, Chigurh represents an archetypal antagonist and his lack of involvement in Moss’s final moments was a point of contention amongst my friends. But having Moss fall at the hands of Chigurh would give credence to the character; he would no longer be one of the cattle. Having him be killed off-screen by an unknown Mexican assailant once again demonstrates how unprepared Moss is for the world he has found himself in.

The final section of No Country For Old Men just focuses back on the codes that the three characters use to govern their lives. Moss finally meets the end that had been looming since he set eyes on the money, Sheriff Bell realises that his code is just untenable and gives up thus securing his survival, whilst Chigurh is punished for an infraction of his own code. Anton Chigurh’s final scene takes place at the home of Llewellyn Moss’ widow Carla Jean. Previously in the film he spared a gas attendants life after his quarry won a coin toss. He offers this same deal to Carla Jean who promptly refuses to put her life into the outcome of a coin toss. Chigurh is forced to kill her without the coin flip and this infraction leads to his being hit by a car as he drives away from the scene. Whilst the accident isn’t fatal it hammers home the tonality of the film, that even a minor deviation from the codes and ethics we live our life by can result in catastrophe.