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Synopsis
Violence and mayhem ensue after a hunter stumbles upon some dead bodies, a stash of heroin and more than $2 million in cash near the Rio Grande.
My Take
Like the Coen film of yesteryear (and a member of the ten worst in my Your Movie Sucks catalog) Fargo, No Country For Old Men will no doubt be a hard pill to swallow. Most film goers will be turned off by the film's unconventional style, and perhaps angered at the way the film takes its final scene. But unlike conventional films, No Country For Old Men confronts the viewer with mind-numbing questions and a hard, bitter look at reality in the eyes of a story whose course is not gentle, whose ways are not logical, and whose message is disturbing. Whether you find this film enlightening or not is specifically up to you; regardless of how it "treats" you, No Country For Old Men will undoubtely not leave you alone.
Josh Brolin stars as Llewelyn Moss, a hunter who stumbles upon a group of dead men, a truck filled with drugs and a suitcase filled with money. He chooses to take the money, marking him as a wanted man by cold-hearted killer Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), and two men who hope to find Moss before Chigurh does: Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Jones) and a slick businessman (Woody Harrelson) who fear Moss is in way over his head. Moss knows he's being pursued, so he flees town, ostensibly protecting his wife (Kelly Macdonald) from those willing to do anything to retrieve it. Bell chases after Moss, hoping that Chigurh's trail of destruction won't meet up with Moss before Bell can.
A classic ploy of good vs. evil runs amok when motives are revealed and characters are enhanced. Like Steinbeck's The Pearl, Moss seems unaware of the negative consequences upon taking the money. Like enrapturing the form of evil itself, Anton Chigurh emboldens the "perfect villain" if there was such a thing. His entrancing and calm demeanor look to steal the scene. He asks brooding questions that often cannot be answered, and always appears sly and daring: one step ahead of the game. Anton, for me, is a picture of what perhaps Satan himself may resemble should he take on a human form. His penchant for death and destruction often creates a sense of fear from not only the characters on-screen but from the audience members as well. This character (as well as the actor who played him) will be remember for years to come.
Reveling in evil, No Country For Old Men looks to convince the audience of several moral ideas (and the questions that follow). As God is absent from the film (save a line of self-examining from sheriff Bell), the film asks "Can there be a stand against evil if God is absent?" the answer being a strong 'no', but no solution is provided. For me the film stands as a grim depiction of life where things anticipated, based on good circumstances, are still often left to chance; nothing is for certain. Anton stands as an emblem of evil and the consequences that follow you in the wake of sin. And of course, life hardly ever ends well, and rarely resembles the stories in the "happily ever after" books. Regardless of the Coen brothers intention for No Country For Old Men it serves as a moral reminder of the reality and deadly consequences of sin.
Having a sick obsession with death and destruction, Anton leaves no survivors in his wake. In fact, as he says himself, if you've seen him then he has to kill you (but even he is reduced to "survive" by the end of the movie). Needless to say violence is ever-present. Anton carries with him extremely disturbing looking and altered high-powered weapons that spell gore with a single shot (his weapon of choice is a sawed-off shotgun with a large cylinder silencer that makes a high-pitched whining noise when fired). Several characters are shot, and grotesquely left for dead. A few dogs are seen killed as well. Blood is rampant, as it seems to serve a far higher purpose than just the after effects of death. To simply simply, this movie is "gross". From where I was sitting, most of the women during these scenes would make the "ugh" noises and flinch to cover their faces when the scene took longer than a few seconds to pass (often the camera lingers longer than normal for these parts). Anton often kills close range, leaving us to see the kill-shot. Sometimes his "principles" (a very strange kind indeed) kick in and looks away (as does the camera) for killing. He is no respecter of sexes, but the camera is when it comes to his killing of women. The is one of the most violent movies I've ever seen, and the nonchalance of Anton (and lack of musical score) makes the scene creepier and more crude. There is less than a handful of curse words (only one "f" word, which is a significant downsize on part of the Coen brothers) and no sex (although a man is shown naked, privates covered, nursing a wound).
No Country For Old Men is a movie that will undoubtley be a forerunner for Best Picture for 2008, with Javier Bardem a skilled shot as "Best Supporting Actor". It is a premier example for storytelling and a setup for convincing characters. In addition, the movie is a barrage of moral questions that will prove heavy on the viewer. Be forewarned, there's a good chance you will not like the course this movie takes – but the more it dwells the more sound the end becomes. It is by no means a happy tale, a conventional story but it will intrigue you and take you to places you've never been nestled in your comfy theater chair (which will probably be the most "comfortable" thing about the whole experience). A astonishingly complex and creative film that I recommend.
Until the next flick,
Zachary Anderson
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