No Country for Old Men (2007)

Movie Info

Surely no one will miss this million+ dollars….

Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) has made a discovery.  After a violent shoot out, he’s found a failed drug exchange and millions of dollars.  Unfortunately, the money isn’t his and despite his efforts to hide it, he’s attracted the attention of the real owners.  Now, a paid killer named Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) is coming for him.  As Chigurh cuts his bloody path toward Llewelyn, another assassin named Carson Wells (Woody Harrelson) and the local sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) also are trying to find Llewelyn…but if Chigurh finds him first, Llewelyn won’t survive no matter how much money he has.

I like to strangle people!

Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men adapts the 2005 Cormac McCarthy novel.  The drama is sometimes classified as a neo-Western (a movie that is modern but with Western themes or settings).  The film was released to critical acclaim and went on to win multiple awards.  The movie was the winner of Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Javier Bardem), and Best Screenplay—Adapted and nominations for Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing.

I am bias to Joel and Ethan Coen.  Fargo is one of my top movies of all time.  Generally they do great stuff…sometimes not so great.  No Country for Old Man falls in the “great” category.

Yep, what we got here is a lot of dead people…

I like that the movie, like Fargo, doesn’t just spell out the plot and what you should take away from it.  It might as well be a companion piece to Fargo because both movies share the same themes.  Fargo questioned why people believe money is the key to happiness and what is the real cost of life.  The story path compared to Fargo follows a more humorous approach, but both films have the same general message.

The Coens always pick strong actors for their films.  The movie brought Josh Brolin a lot of attention and helped catapult the former Goonie into other noteworthy roles.  Also strong is Tommy Lee Jones and the sheriff trying to stop the crime spree and trying to wrap his head around the root causes of it.  Woody Harrelson plays his role strong, and I could have watched a whole movie about his character.  Another smaller (but strong) role is Kelly Macdonald as Llewelyn’s wife Carla Jean…she does a good job shedding her Scottish accent for a southern one and her final scene is a great way to round out the film.

Say hello to my little friend!

The real scene-stealer is Javier Bardem who played out of his normal characters to bring one of the scariest killers to the screen.  He told the Coens that he wasn’t a strong English speaker and didn’t like blood and guts, but it turned out to be a great roll.  With his Dorothy Hamill haircut and his wicked bolt gun, Chigurh is a memorable character.

The film looks fantastic.  I love the vision and scope the Coen Brothers bring their films.  They really use the desert setting (which was also used for the filming of There Will Be Blood).  Scenes like Llewelyn’s river escape while being pursued by pitbulls have a certain grittiness to them while still looking great.

I really enjoy Coen Brother films and No Country for Old Men is no exception.  Much like Fargo, the movie takes a rather simple plot and turns it into a complex morality tale that makes you question the value of life and the bond of a word.  Though I still prefer Fargo, No County for Old Men is one of the better Best Pictures of the 2000s.