No Country for Old Men, 2007

Rated R

I was not interested in seeing this movie when it came out, nor did I want to see it for this challenge, nor do I need to see it again. It’s not that it was THAT bad, it’s just not my kind of movie. It is pretty violent, which isn’t my cup of tea, but it’s the suspense surrounding the violence that I dislike the most. My stomach gets in more knots from me asking What’s he gonna do to him? and What’s he gonna do with that?, that by the end of the movie, I’ve bitten off all my nails and upset my stomach thinking how the situation could’ve played out.

This dark western/horror/chase/film noir was award-winningly directed by the infamous Coen brothers and was their first film based solely on a novel. (I’m personally not a big fan of any of the brothers’ films.) Taking place in 1980, this film is a cat-and-mouse game involving a cold-blooder killer, a deputy, and your average Joe. The latter, Llewelyn (played by Josh Brolin), comes across a drug deal gone very wrong in a stretch of nowhere in West Texas. There he finds a truckload of cocaine and a briefcase containing $2 million and we soon see he believes in “finders keepers”. The psychopath, Anton Chigurh, (kind of pronounced the way Southerners say “sugar” but with the accent on the last syllable), is out to get that money back, and Ed Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) is the about-to-retire cop hot on his trail.

The title of the film is taken from the first line of a poem by William Butler Yeats. I believe this is supposed to be a thought of Bell. He is dismayed at the amount of violence still going on in society and feels he’ll never beat it. In short, Bell is getting to old for this.

SPOILER: Why is the movie’s tagline “There are no clean getaways” when that’s precisely what the bad guy makes at the end of the film?? I mean, I guess he’s not clean- he’s pretty bloody, but he escapes the captures of the police.

Javier Bardem won the award for Best Supporting Actor (even though I think Josh Brolin gave an acting performance of equal value). One of the creepiest things about his character is his hairstyle and I find it interesting that it’s not featured in the movie poster. In fact, Javier doesn’t look all that terrifying in that shot, he just looks tired. But in this one…. eew.

This film was up against “Atonement”, “There Will Be Blood”, “Michael Clayton”, and “Juno”. In my opinion, I think this was a pretty weak year for the Oscars. I saw “Juno” and enjoyed it but it wasn’t Oscar caliber; I’m pretty sure I saw “Atonement”; and the rest I think are forgettable (if not already forgotten) films. Disney/Pixar’s “Ratatouille”, however, won for Best Animated Feature Film and THAT is a memorable film- one of my family’s faves! J

FAVORITE SCENE:

…didn’t exist. I would’ve liked to see justice brought to Chigurh, instead I’m left with the thought that he may still be out there in west Texas.

LESSON LEARNED:

Chigurh has forever ruined coin tosses for me.