No Country for Old Men

No Country for Old Men is the latest film by the Coen brothers. Directors of such films as O Brother, Where Art Thou, Raising Arizona, Blood Simple, and Fargo.

They seem to alternate between making perverse but silly movies that are simply entertaining, like O Brother…, and Raising Arizona, and making dark, perplexing movies like Blood Simple and Fargo. No Country for Old Men is of the later type, although it may be darker and more perplexing than either of those.

The casting for this movie is dead on perfect. Tommy Lee Jones is a sheriff who has seen much, and seems troubled by the changes in the world, and it is his voice that opens the movie. Josh Brolin is just an ordinary man who stumbles into a very complicated situation, makes a few critical choices, and stumbles out with a bag full of money. Javier Bardem is a brutal, relentless enigma with a pageboy haircut who is devoted to only a single track—recover the money, and who has no, and I mean no, compunction about killing along the way.

Each of these three actors gives an incredible performance. I wouldn’t have been surprised to say that about Jones and Bardem, in fact I would expect no less, but I never imagined I would be saying that about Brolin. This may just be the role he was born to play, and he makes the most of it. It’s a gutsy, physical performance that highlights both the strengths and failings of the character he plays perfectly.

Javier Bardem’s performance as Anton, the almost Terminator-esque killer, is every bit as incredible. He has invented yet another wholly new incarnation for evil. Perhaps the most uniquely interesting one since Hannibal Lecter first appeared in Silence of the Lambs.

And then Tommy Lee Jones is the heart of the movie. The sheriff who can’t comprehend the terrible things he sees in the world, and yet who seems to have come to terms with at least some of it.

The other wonderful thing about this film is the cinematography. Once again, the Coen Brothers, through their partnership with cinematographer RogerDeakins, have composed a visually arresting movie. There are wonderful shots of the Texas range at night and in the heat of the day, with thunderheads sparking on the horizon; interspersed with shots of dreary trailer homes baking in the Texas heat and a man drinking a glass of milk reflected in a blank television screen; and the scuff marks a dying man makes with his heels on a tile floor. This is a movie to savor visually while absorbing the plot and dialog and relating to the characters. It has it all.

The first two thirds of the film act essentially as a discovery and then a chase, but the final third takes a radical change in direction. I’m not sure what to say about that portion of the film, especially without spoiling it, and I do think it probably might cause a lot of consternation for the audience. The only things I would suggest for a potential viewer is to make note of the fact that it is the Sheriff’s voice that opens the movie. I think that is important. And also to note several conversations along the way that involve the concepts of fate and chance, opposed to the reality of the choices the characters make.

Honestly, I’m still mulling over aspects of this movie, and remembering individual scenes and bits of dialog. This is a movie that it is good to see with someone else and to discuss over coffee or beers afterwards, because there are many areas open for interpretation and you just might find it enlightening to hear how someone else viewed certain of the scenes.

I highly recommend this movie. See it soon while you can see it on the big screen and experience the full effect of the cinematography.

I myself look forward to watching it again at some point to see what other interpretations I might find for a few of the more mysterious sequences. One of my favorite films of the year.