What It Is: An intense Coen brothers (Fargo, Miller's Crossing...) drama based on the novel by the same name.Why I Watched It: It was enough that it was a Coen brothers film, but I was also curious about the now infamous "ending" that has audiences in a twist.
What I Thought: No Country was good, really good.
The movie follows a guy that happens upon a drug deal gone wrong and decides to run off with the cash he finds. Interested parties send a psycho after him and a haggard old cop tries to protect him. This synopsis, does no justice to the film whatsoever. Those were the images on the screen, but they were definitely not what the movie is about.
I think No Country for Old Men was really about violence, death, crime, and murder and how frequently futile it can be to understand them. The movie shows a lot of violence, but often leaves it unexplained. The movie's villain often kills for unknown reasons, or maybe no reason at all. You never see what went wrong at the drug deal, but that's not what the movie's about.
The movie opens with some voice over from Tommy Lee Jones' sheriff character talking about how criminal motive is often unknowable. No Country conveys that exact same feeling to the audience by leaving much of the "plot" unexplained. The movie ends with almost no resolution whatsoever, but real life doesn't always wrap things in a bow.
Aside from all the story stuff, the whole production was executed masterfully. Josh Brolin was very enjoyable as the "protagonist that isn't really", Tommy Lee Jones was a fantastic grizzled old sheriff. But Javier Bardem simply stole the show. He was the hired killer trying to track down the money and was one of the best, creepiest, most disturbing villains I have ever seen on film. Amazing.
Highlights: Inexplicable violence, pulse pounding gunfights, quotable dialogue, and Javier Bardem's entry into the cinema villains hall of fame!
Who Should See It: Coen brothers fans, independent movie buffs, and anybody that wants to ponder why bad guys do what they do.
How Soon: If you're looking for a meaningful film, there's not much else at the theater now. But I think the message will still be there on DVD.
