I love watching great actors becasue it's as though you're not watching acting at all. In other words, I was impressed how this dialogue actually sounded genuine. Everyone was chosen well for their respective parts. Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin were exceptional and Tommy Lee Jones gave another impressive performance. There was little to no music which added a deeper realism. When we see the seen of the first crime, the film shows our protagonist trying to make sense of the carnage. It's within this subtlty that we get drawn into this plot. I found there were some similarities to "Fargo" minus the humor. Another strange crime but this film goes into a more grisly and destructive direction. It seems as though each character believes that they have the upper-hand but life doesn't work that way. We learn that fate has a plan all its own.
Everything you allow yourself to think this movie will be they sweep the rug out from under systemetically and with purpose. Perfect acting on brilliant, quirky dialogue, out-of-the-box pacing, and an ending that left me sitting in silence as the credits rolled.
yeeeeouch! press the replay button again. this one's a keeper, for sure, as javier bardem re-ups the ante some on just what's wrong with those darn kids nowadays in this commentary on modern times, natch, and (gasp!) the generation gap! move over, de niro, there's a new kid in town, and he's muscling in on yer home turf bigtime. the title don't really hit you either, until after you see it. america the beautiful? this film adores the america everybody else is trying to get away from, the america with big wide open spaces in between...and what, oh what, can happen there? see a guy sweat bullets just fer askin' "how's the weather up there?" in one of my fav scenes...see it, see it, see it
Gut-wrenching tension from beginning to end. Solid performances across the board and one of the most terrifying villains in modern cinema. You will have a hard time forgetting certain scenes from this movie
Riveting and tense. This movie is not for the faint of heart with an Oscar caliber performance by Javier Bardem. It will make you laugh. It will make you squirm. It will make you wince. It will make you think.
I don't know how you tell a compelling narrative without including your climax and just skipping to the resolution, but the Coen brothers just did it. At first I felt a bit let down, but then I realized, that's how life is (and what being drunk causes), you don't always have the full story. Perfect filmaking with real tension throughout the whole film. Well done.
I didn't think it was going to be possible to improve on the McCarthy novel. This enhances and expands on it in extraordinary ways. But it IS STILL "No Country". All of the adjectives I wanted to use (spellbinding, gorgeously grisly...) to describe this film sounds like tired movie review copy. So just leave now.
Go.
I loved almost every second of it. Just engrossing, intense, and the perfect "new Western." if you loved Leone, you'll appreciate so many nuances of this film. Gruesome, relentless, awesome. Almost perfect. Maybe it is.
As good as films get. You'll want to see it again as soon as it's over, for the cinematography, the acting, the dialogue... No Country has such depth, and subtlety. It blew me away.
When I first reviewed the Cohen Brothers? Fargo, I was openly aware that I had enjoyed the film and thought it was something excellent. Nevertheless, I was left slightly perplexed with the feeling that something in the movie just didn?t quite work enough to give it full marks. I took to ranking the film as 9.5/10 whenever I was asked. Where is that other .5? In ?No Country for Old Men? I found it. Yes, it contains the perfect mixture of its elements ? all in balance.
The film, adapted from the novel by Cormac McCarthy, examines the situation which follows after Llewellyn Moss (Josh Brolin in another excellent turn) discovers a drug deal gone bad in the deserts of Texas. He finds the bodies, the guns, and then the money. He takes some of the guns, all the money, and leaves the bodies behind. He soon realizes that he is being hunted; on one hand by a gang of Mexicans who have something to do with the deal; on the other hand by a ruthless psychopath named Anton Chigurgh (played incredibly by Javier Bardem). Both parties were hired by a rich businessman of sorts (William Root), who in turn hires a bounty hunter (Woody Harrelson) to take care of things when things get out of hand. Also in the mix is Sherriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones in anther great performance). He investigates the killings in the desert, and the bodies of others who were unfortunate enough to meet Chigurgh along his hunt for the stolen money.
Jones delivers two great monologues in the film. One at the start, off-screen, narrated to Roger Deakin?s beautiful cinematography, and the other at the very end of the film as the camera remains steady on his face. These monologues are just two of the marvels of No Country for Old Men. The cinematography is breathtaking; the dialogue superb. Another marvel of delivery in the film is virtually every line of dialogue delivered by Bardem. Consider one scene in which, after being offended by the small talk of a gas station attendant, where he forces the man to call a coin toss. The wager is ?everything,? and though it goes unspoken, the attendant quietly realizes the brevity of the situation. The only issue I take with the film is with some of the lines given to Carson Welles, the bounty hunter played by Woody Harrelson. Some of his lines seem out of place, but that they are delivered so well it hardly matters. That the film makes no real false steps completely erases any other small issues.
The film merits some serious artistic credits. Shots, dialogue, editing all have moments of incredible beauty and meaning. The camera work and set up of shots are incredibly well crafted. Things move at a deliberate speed, never too fast, never too slow, and serve to heighten tension to a tee. I was reminded of one of two films this year that blew me away. That film was Bela Tarr?s The Man from London. The other was No Country for Old Men. Though the camera shots are never as long or as lingering, some of it?s fluid and slow movements reminded very much of Tarr?s style. Whether the Cohen?s have seen his work or not however is irrelevant. One of the most glorious moments in the film comes as one character makes his final appearance. The framing, the dialogue, and the final slow fade amount to such a great sendoff a better one can not be imagined.
The film takes its subject matter more seriously than Fargo did, and contains just the right mix of violence, poetry, odd humor and pathos. Therein lies the .5 missing from Fargo. In that film the mixture was off, not a bad thing but nevertheless after seeing No Country for Old Men I recognized that?s what had been perplexing me.
The closing monologue by Ed Tom Bell about a dream he had of his father, is one of the most important moments in the film, delivered by its most important character. His final words and the final cut in the film will stay with you: '?And then I woke up?.' Cut to black.
Ask me about this film I dont want to give anything away. This movie made EVERYONE in the theater mad in the end and it says alot about life in my opinion. The title is prefect for this film
The Coens never disappoint and continue to surprise with their most violent film since 'Blood Simple'. As always, the writing is the solid spine of this unrelenting thriller.
After a couple of cartoonish comedies, the Coens return to their noir roots. The direction and photography make the story fascinating to watch. The acting is outstanding, not the least of which Brolin's watershed performance.
With No Country for Old Men, the Coen brothers return to their true form as filmmakers while single-handedly creating the best film of 2007 thus far. Gritty, stark, and slightly humorous, No Country turns out some of the best performances of the year with its incredible cast. Brolin, Jones, and Macdonald (and even Harrelson surprisingly) give outstanding performances. But it is (as most people are saying) Bardem who gives the most chilling and utterly disturbing/gripping performance of the film. His Chighur epitomizes evil and the corrupt descent of mankind. The Coens masterfully put McCarthy's equally stark novel to the screen in what could possibly be next year's Best Picture winner. Here's to hoping There Will Be Blood will be just as promising.
Very good movie, very unpredictable movie consitering the whole plot of the movie is very basic. it leave you a lot of room for your own interpretation to a lot of elements of the movie. like a lot of coen bros movies
I'm one of the 4 percent that just didn't like this flick. I was put off from the get-go when a cop is killed, and there isn't a manhunt. And this story take place in Texas.
Then there was the writing. Yeah, I get it, _everyone_ in Texas is a cut above a retard as defined by the medical textbooks.
Argh....the only decent thing about this movie was Ms Macdonald and Ms Reeder. But their face time was measured in miliseconds and both had throwaway parts.
I haven't been as on the edge of my seat for an entire movie as I was in No Country for Old Men. Both Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin shine in their respective roles, completely dominating their scenes, dwarfing the beautiful cinematography. Tommy Lee Jones grounds the film, keeping the carnage in perspective. A great film, a must see, could be the best film of the year--
MCT:December 5, 2007
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