NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN d: Joel and Ethan Coen
Josh Brolin in No Country for Old Men
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN: The Pros
The Cons:
- I was unable to either relate to or care about any of the "good" characters. Josh Brolin’s Llewelyn Moss is supposed to be the "ordinary guy" who acts the way ordinary guys would act under similar circumstances. Well, perhaps it’s true that the average guy is really stupid, selfish, and greedy, but there’s nothing ordinary about the way the Vietnam veteran uses a firing weapon to shoot both animals and his pursuer. Worse yet, Llewelyn’s deadly foolhardiness — innocent bystanders get slaughtered because of him — had me rooting for Chigurh to come and eliminate that tough-talking health hazard fast.
- The final battle between Chigurh and Llewelyn is never seen. That’s quite a letdown, considering that most of the film revolves around their cat-and-mouse game.
- Roger Deakins‘ cinematography, though impressive in its brightly lit way, would have been more effective had it been shadier. To me, No Country for Old Men is a horror movie. Had it been treated as such — and that would have included a more atmospheric look — it might have become an all-out horror classic.
- The suspense in No Country for Old Men isn’t of the edge-of-your-seat kind. Instead, it’s more like the sandbag-in-your-stomach kind, similar to what I felt while watching Quentin Tarantino‘s Pulp Fiction. Scenes of potentially explosive violence involving peripheral characters are gratuitously milked for minutes at a time. That’s hardly my kind of thing.
- I’m not sure if the problem lay with me or the Coens’ screenplay (or the novel), but several plot points made absolutely no sense — e.g., I couldn’t figure out how characters could always discover where their targets were.
- I didn’t buy the film’s message that the world is a frightening place and there’s nothing that can be done about it, as it’s all in the hands of fate. That worldview reminded me of Woody Allen‘s Match Point (a film I admire), in which fate is to be blamed for the outcome of each character — except that throughout it all, whether in Match Point or No Country for Old Men, human beings are the ones who get the ball rolling. In fact, in No Country for Old Men — with the at times much-too-obvious assistance of the Coens — they keep on kicking it.
- Javier Bardem winning the best supporting actor Oscar, when he’s as much the film’s lead as Josh Brolin or Tommy Lee Jones. That’s cheating on real supporting players who have little chance of getting nominated (or winning) when competing with the big guys.
The Question Mark:
Was the fateful climax found in Pedro Almodóvar‘s Broken Embraces inspired by the car crash near the end of No Country for Old Men? I’m not sure when Almodóvar wrote his film’s screenplay — or even if he’s ever watched No Country for Old Men, though it’s likely that he did. After all, Javier Bardem is Penelope Cruz‘s off-screen companion, and Cruz is one of the stars of Almodóvar’s film. Also, Almodóvar directed Bardem in two films: High Heels (1991) and Live Flesh (1997). And (fate at work?) Bardem was born in the Canaries Islands, where the Broken Embraces crash takes place.
In Sum:
As much as I wanted to admire No Country for Old Men, which I finally watched on DVD this week, I found it a well-crafted but uninvolving suspense thriller. Most critics felt differently, as No Country for Old Men remains one of the most respected productions of the early 21st century.
Photos: Richard Foreman / Miramax Films
4 Academy Award Wins
Best Film: Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Best Direction: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem
Best Adapted Screenplay: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
4 Academy Award Nominations
Best Cinematography: Roger Deakins
Best Editing: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen (as Roderick Jaynes)
Best Sound: Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff, Peter F. Kurland
Best Sound Editing: Skip Lievsay
More information about: Broken Embraces, film reviews, Javier Bardem, Joel and Ethan Coen, Josh Brolin, No Country for Old Men, Pedro Almodóvar, Roger Deakins, Tommy Lee Jones
5 Responses to “NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN d: Joel and Ethan Coen”
Leave a Reply
PLEASE READ THIS:
All comments are moderated and may take some time before they are posted. Different views and opinions are welcome, but a) bigotry has no place anywhere on this site b) courtesy is imperative. Abusive/bigoted comments and/or remarks, and name-calling of any sort will be immediately deleted.
Also, please note that Alt Film Guide has no contact information for the talent mentioned in this blog and no information pertaining to or access to distributors'/producers' film prints.
What really struck me (and sickened me) was the feeling of utter helplessness and naivety (the first deputy) of law enforcement. A killer visits a house, gets a glass bottle of milk from the refrigerator and drinks it on the couch. Fingerprints? DNA? Hello! What century are we talking about? The Mexican in the first hotel fires a long burst from an automatic weapon but Chigurh does not seem to be concerned that someone might have heard it. Everything in the movie seems to be shaped to the inevitable conclusion of Chigurh’s ultimate and total victory dominance. The accident at the end seems like a timid afterthought.
I have only seen the film once, in the movie theater. You point out things that I would as well, especially about the police element in the film.
God is in the details. The Cohens should have rinsed their script through the logic machine for a few cycles before filming it.
Ilove a movie that causes me to search for answers.So many are predictable.I had to read the book search the web and still can’t get enough.I would love to happen across another movie such as this that gets my attention.
Fingerprints and DNA from a milk bottle in 1980, in a small town staffed by a small sheriff’s office? Get real.
And there’s nothing ordinary about Moss shooting animals with his “firing weapon”? What world do you people live in? It’s called hunting, and it’s a perfectly normal sport.
The movie was brilliant,and a very faithful adaption of the book.
1980? If this was set in 1980 those are some pretty nifty firearms for that time especially the shotgun with the silencer. And the tracking device – pretty high tech. Sorry if I burst your bubble a little. This movie is a murderous little fairy tale. If you care to take it seriously – good luck.