No Country for Old Men
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Movie Reviews of No Country for Old Men
Movie Review: Disturbing
Summary: 5 Stars
People have criticized the random violence and "empty" ending of this film. I am no fan of gratuitous violence or inconclusive messages, so it surprised me that I loved this movie so much. After reading many reviews and comments on Amazon, I agreed with some of the negative points people made about the film. But they didn't change my mind.
This is because No Country for Old Men succeeds in embodying fear. Bad-guy Anton is the most frightening figure since Hannibal Lecter. Why? Because he is intelligent and on a soul-less mission to kill. Again: this alone does not make a film good - not by a long shot. Yet as opposed to other figures in murderous-rampage cinema (take Natural Born Killers, which claims to have a "message"), this character's made to look plain and ugly, and is no shining beacon of Hollywood that we secretly sympathize with because we know him from other, gentler roles. At least for the American movie scene, Bardem comes out of nowhere, and that helps make his character alien and unlikeable, and us feel uncomfortable and disturbed in his on-screen presence.
Anton and his mission, seen in the context of the film - the dawn of the drug war - brings me back to the character embodying fear. How many drug-related deaths have we seen in the States in the last decades? How many innocent people have lost their lives, or survived, by pure (or bad) luck, like the toss of a coin? Anton embodies (the fear of) this randomness. It's ugly and scary, it comes and disappears, worst of all never answering the question "why". That, to me, is the crowning achievement of the story. Putting that on the big screen is indeed amazing and is, among other reasons, why I am so floored by the film.
If you decide to see No Country for Old Men, don't do it because of the hype about the Coen brothers, the awards, or my commentary. This film means something different to everyone, and you may say it's just a waste of time. Or you may end up agreeing with me that it's a masterpiece. I'll go flip a coin now and see what you decide.
Movie Review: The ending stunned me (Spoiler alert)
Summary: 5 Stars
In an earlier review, Jeffrey offered what I thought was a terrific definition of cinema as art: "Cinema is an art form. Movies are art, even bad movies. Art, by definition, is manipulative in that the artist makes a deliberate attempt to compel the observer to think and/or do and/or feel. The artist attempts to have an effect on the observer through artistic devices. The best art challenges the observer to contribute at least a little to the artistic experience."
Indeed. No Country for Old Men is some of the best cinematic art I've ever seen. I found myself swept along by the Coens' masterful story telling -- especially the film's pacing, mood, acting and cinematography -- but never once felt spoon fed or jerked around as happens so often in conventional Hollywood movies.
The ending stunned me - it was so unexpected and so brave. It challenged me to think and search for what the artist was trying to say. Why did Chigurh get creamed in that car crash?... Ed Tom Bell goes home to his wife, and that's it?!?...
My conclusion: Chigurh, while he can easily be seen as Death in his impassive relentlessness and sinister coin tossing, is shown to be a mere mortal, not a supernatural force. Yes, he represents the new level of violence that Sheriff Bell finds dumbfounding and frightening ("I feel over-matched"), but he is flesh and blood (and bone) after all and to me that makes him more disturbing than any horror-movie ghoul; I can't dismiss him as a ghost or a malevolent force. He's real and he's psychopathic and he's out there; the new violence is real, it's psychopathic and it's out there.
Ed Tom Bell sees only the aftermath of Chigurh's (and the Mexicans') handiwork. Try as he does to intervene, he's always a step behind. But he recognizes what he's seeing and recognizes that this is no longer the world he grew up and sheriffed effectively in. This is no country for old men.
I read the book after I saw the movie. In my opinion, a high-art book has been made into a high-art film. Bravo!
Movie Review: No Movie Quite Like It
Summary: 5 Stars
A down-on-his-luck hunter named Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) comes across a circle of trucks and a plethora of bloody bodies. In the back of one truck is the motherload of heroin. While searching for more clues, he comes across a satchel with $2 million cash. From then on he's a man who's taking it step by step to find out exactly how to get away with keeping this money while not getting caught. His conscience gets the best of him when he decides to do a good deed. Instead, he finds he should have left well enough alone.
He then decides to leave everything while sending his adoring wife away to safety, he's caught in a cat and mouse game with the brutal and sadistic Anton Chigurh. Javier Bardem plays the ruthless assassin with such unflinching ease and brilliance from the opening scene, it's truly frightening.
Tommy Lee Jones plays an old-timer sheriff of the sleepy Texas town in which this horror has taken place. He has seen more than his share of heartache and violence. The state of the world is perhaps too much for him to handle anymore.
When I saw this Coen Brothers modern masterpiece for the first time, I summerized it as: 'Fargo' of the Southwest. The dialogue is beautiful in its own special way. Simplistic dialect and jargon of the area is used with such panache and style it's often hilarious.
The cinematography is just stunning. The vast open desert areas allows the feeling of loniless while whenever Bardem is on screen, the chilling claustorphobia takes over.
While it may not be a movie made for everyone's taste, it is certainly a very tense thriller. Violence is certainly not shied away from. The subtle performances of the cast are amazing. As far as I'm concerned, any member of the cast earned an award or two.
The ending may throw people. I'm not going to elaborate here because each individual needs to make their conclusion. It's not a neat little package that's wrapped up in a nice epilogue. I love it.
Movie Review: Psychopathy portrayed with Ruthlessness & Realism
Summary: 5 Stars
Psychopathy has only been seriously studied since the last half of the 20th century to present day. A psychopath can be non-violent, persuasive, charming, and on the surface seemingly normal. Then, of course, there's the violent type, who will pursue, torture and murder anyone or anything that obstructs them from their focused goal. What the two types have in common, however, is a lack of true emotion and particularly, a conscience. In No Country for Old Men, adapted from the Cormac McCarthy novel, the character of Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) portrays the unyielding, unmerciful and ultimately dangerous psychopath with unqualified Realism. This is a film that will either shock you into disbelief or (as in my case) raise that pure terror that lies within us all - and as the novel and film ask, pure evil is among us and is unrelenting.
On the surface this film could be categorised as just another bad-guy-good guy film, where, in the end, good triumphs over evil. But the message from the book and film is quite clear on this point: evil moves forward, inexorable and any sort of "rational" pleading with them or even an ample description of insanity is close to impossible. The quandary is that insanity by its very nature cannot be explained in rational terms.
The plot is a simple one. A drug deal gone wrong; and an outsider comes along and grabs the money and runs. The point is, Llewellyn Moss, (Josh Brolin) is unrelenting as well, but does not really know what or whom he is dealing with. Brolin does an exceptional job in this film - a man with a mission, pursued by true evil.
It is unusual for the Coen brothers to adapt a novel to film. However, anyone who has read the novel can see that the film faithfully followed the novel.
I love all the Coen Brothers films as they all have an atmosphere, (even in their parody's) of true realism and a special view of the world.
A film that deserved all the accolades it duly received.
Excellent.
Movie Review: A COEN Brothers masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a TRULY great movie, with a flawless script, incredible directing, cinematography and acting. WOW.
The COEN brothers, who always have fantastic dialog, where many times, it takes the second watching of their movies to catch all of the humor and subtlties, made an extremely, "Quiet" movie.
They left the camera and the sound of the southwest do the talking for them. There was not a scene in this morality play that was NOT totally fascinating and it grabs the audience totally with 10 seconds.
To be great, there always has to be a fantastic villain. Where the heck did they get this incredible Spanish actor, with his warped sense of morality and ability to be so amoral, yet so human at the same time. That gentle voice and mannerisms of his, as well as his gentle features, REALLY made him frightening.
The movie really shows the decline in morality and ethics in the U.S. The insanity and accepted amoral behavior of the leadership in the U.S., the random violence, the ends justify the means and how hard it is for many of us to accept and understand the lack of ethics, morality and random violence that is all over our society. From the gang violence and acceptance of torture and outright destruction and murder of innocent civilians going on in Iraq to the using of the children in our military like waste products for individual gain and profit.
I loved how the Coen's used the dryness and sound of the boots crunching along the dry earth.
If you are looking for standard, mindless, Hollywood fare go to Rocky 100 or some other Hollywood sequel, one dimensional characters, artificial dialog and most of all, nothing that might allow on to "think". This masterpiece is an example where only independent movies and movies from Australia or Europe have any depth to them.
Want a bad script, horny teenagers, a contrived love story, mindless escapism, go to Hollywood.
This is a classic that will hold up with its timeless theme.
Jon