Review & Trailer: "No Country For Old Men"
February 21, 2008 by Jane Boursaw
| Movie: No Country For Old Men | In Theaters: | Nov. 21, 2007 |
| MPAA Rating: R for strong graphic violence and some language | Gecko Rating: |  |
Nominated for 8 Oscars, including: Directing, Editing, Best Picture, and Supporting Actor (Javier Bardem, pictured)
Filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen have always had a dark side, but they usually balance it out with quirky humor a la “Raising Arizona,” “Fargo,” and “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” But make no mistake. In “No Country For Old Men,” they go dark and do not come back.
The film begins with cowboy Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) out on a hunting trip in West Texas. When he stumbles across some dead bodies, a stash of heroin, and $2 million in cash near the Rio Grande, he sees the perfect gateway to a better life with wife Carla Jean (Kelly MacDonald).
More after the jump…
But when Llewelyn stashes the goods in a hiding spot, it doesn’t take long to realize there’s not going to be a clean getaway. Someone else is after those things — namely, Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), a very bad man with a very bad haircut and some serious artillery.
Llewelyn sends Carla Jean to her mother’s and takes off with Anton in hot pursuit. Their trail of blood and violence puts world-weary cop Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) on the case, as well as bounty hunter Carson Wells (Woody Harrelson).
To try and sum up all the greatness of this movie in a few paragraphs is daunting, but I’ll give it a whirl. The story, based on a novel by Cormac McCarthy, is so engaging, you won’t even think about looking at your watch. The Coen Brothers are master storytellers, and they’ve set the bar scary-high with this film.
The actors couldn’t have done a better job if they’d been playing themselves in real life. The earthy colors, western landscape, and realistic, non-gratuitous violence offer a celebration of all that is bleak and gritty in life. And the ending…well, let’s just say it’s not all wrapped up in a neat bow or anything.
If this movie doesn’t score a few wins at the Academy Awards on Sunday, then there’s something seriously amiss in the film industry.
Check out the trailer:
Great review. This is my favourite film ever. Best of 2007, I will cherish it forever!
The best film ever. I´m sure of that.
This movie is the best that I watched recently. The plot is very original and intriguing. I was surprised by the fact that Tommy Lee Jones did nothing during whole movie, he was just appearing here and there, but he didn’t affected development of story at all.