No Country for Old Men - Not For My Taste

by TE
(NC)

You Can Run But You Can't Hide From Anton Chigurh

My wife and I finally saw the film No Country For Old Men, after all the Oscar hype had died down and were probably hit with high expectation syndrome. With all the awards and critics lavishing such praise, we found the movie (especially the ending) to be a big letdown. Even knowing that the Coens will do odd and peculiar things with their films, I was not prepared for the ending.


Without giving away the specific details, the plot is essentially a gripping chase movie. Llewelyn Moss stumbles upon a suitcase of money among dead bodies and thinks he can get away with it quietly, but to his surprise a noiseless killer Anton Chigurh is hot on his trail. The cat-mouse race follows and a pile of dead bodies grows heavens high.


In my western movie review I would say that I really wanted to like this movie, but I didn’t much. I have loved previous Coen Brothers efforts like O Brother Where Art Thou and Raising Arizona. It is hard to believe they got a record eight Oscar nominations and four wins from this film. It was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (for Javier Bardem), Best Achievement in Sound, Cinematography and Best Editing. Wow..that’s quite a nomination list.


There is a lot to like in this film especially the acting. Javier Bardem is a force of nature as the murderous Anton Chigurh, a character who is literally a juggernaut of murder who kills to achieve whatever end seems to strike him within the moment. Tommy Lee Jones turns in a performance that reminds me of his Fugitive character Sam Gerard if he were wizened and retired. Woody Harrelson is also in the film, but the character seems something of an afterthought or perhaps much of the role ended up on the cutting room floor.


To me, one of the biggest surprises was Josh Brolin as the deceptively resourceful Llewelyn Moss. The relationship between his milquetoast wife Carla Jean, played by newcomer Kelly MacDonald, is the only motivating factor in the film that anyone could sympathize with. It is made extremely difficult by their odd and off-putting relationship although. He sends her immediately away when the action starts and he is more or less trying to get back to her throughout the film.


Ironically, it is a chase film where the three leads involved in the chase, Brolin being chased by Jones and Bardem, never interact on screen together. There is conversation by phone, which creates a passive atmosphere in terms of the chase. What really heightens the tension is the return to the music less soundtrack that the Coens had used for their first movie Blood Simple. Both movies share the noirish mood you might find in a 50s era detective film, but set in a picturesque Western landscape.


This film was based on the book of the same name. I wondered about picking it up before and after the film, but have since learned that the film is fairly representative of the literature. Not sure I want to spend that time with Cormac McCarthy's creation. I found the ending to be disconcerting at best.


Perhaps the closest movie of the Coens I could compare it to was The Man Who Wasn't There. It was definitely not a Western, but a surreal noir murder movie that also had an uneven ending.


As much as I like the acting and truly enjoy the Coens, I have trouble recommending this film to people.