Tuesday, November 13, 2007
No Country for Old Men
“No Country for Old Men,” adapted and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen and based on a novel by Cormac McCarthy, values honor, truth, and goodness in a world moving in the opposite direction. The Coen brothers have captured McCarthy’s vision of a soulless America in this story about a man (Josh Brolin) who thinks he’s smart enough to take $2 million in drug money and outsmart his pursuers. However, he doesn’t realize that the man chasing him, Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), a sociopath with a bad haircut, is a predator straight from hell. Trailing from one bloody scene to the next is Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), who is more a commentator on the action rather than an active participant. The acting of the three leads is top-notch, especially Bardem, the cinematography breath-taking and the editing taut and stomach-churning. There’s plenty of violence, but the Coen brothers use it to illustrate what our world has become. It’s a pretty bleak picture. So is this movie, but it has my highest recommendation. (11/12/07)
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2 comments:
I disagree. It is slow. Nihilistic. Multiple plot holes big enough to sideline a film with lesser known producers. Pablum for people out of touch with America. You are right about T.L Jones. He has a set of cameo appearances. Using him in the advertising trailers was a self-conscious act of deception designed to separate the movie going public from their money. In that sense it realistically represents the crass nature of the film industry.
You really didn't like this movie, did you? Remember, it's an adaptation of McCarthy's book, which happens to be nihilistic. You can disagree that America is soulless and more violent, but if it's McCarthy's perspective... I think the crass nature of the film industry is better illustrated by "Sweeney Todd" or "Untraceable"
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