No Country For Old Men

By Sean "Red Eyed Caper" Donovan

No Country For Old Men
Directed by Joel & Ethan Coen
Screenplay by Joel & Ethan Coen
Based on the book by Cormac McCarthy
Starring Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones, Woody Harrelson, and Kelly MacDonald
Grade- A+

Most horror films usually accompany particularly frightening moments with an abrupt musical shock. Of course, it is the same menacing horror music that also follows the main character (usually an over-acting, unrealistically good-looking teenager and his/her identically over-acting, unrealistically good-looking friends, who fill a variety of different stereotypes) right up until a shocking “Gotcha!” type moment. This lessens from the horror, and allows you to prepare yourself for fright. No such moment occurs in No Country For Old Men, the latest film from the Coen brothers Joel and Ethan, and their best film since 1996’s Fargo. Then again, No Country isn’t really a horror film now, is it? Shockingly brutal and terrifying acts (usually done by Anthon Chirguh) are supplemented by…nothing. The credits clearly state that the score is written by Carter Burwell, long-time Coen brothers’ music writer, but I can’t remember any music in the film at all. Just wind, blowing with an almost mocking serenity against the violent acts displayed. Wind and wide expansive prairies filled with nothing at all, except a bloody trail of corpses.
The plot of No Country For Old Men is not very different from that of most films of this genre. A Texas hunter, Llewelyn Moss (played believably by Josh Brolin) goes on the run with a satchel of money he found amidst a few abandoned trucks and corpses. He is pursued by a relentless, inhuman hit-man, Anton Chirguh (Javier Bardem, who’ll get a whole paragraph later on in this review). They are both pursued in turn by a kind, world-weary sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones, whose fine performance here nicely accompanies a spell-binding performance in this year’s In The Valley of Elah). This whole chase is filled with astounding cinematography. In a particular scene where Moss is being chased is a work of art with its daybreak colors set against the headlights of pickup trucks and the mountainous rural lands of Texas.
Like I said, the plot sounds fairly routine, but no film has ever been made that is like No Country For Old Men. This is evident mainly in its ending. Most films centered around a chase like this have only one real way to end: end the chase. You’re thinking, “Well, of course that’s how it has to end! I need closure! You’re telling me the chase doesn’t end?” No, the chase ends alright. What exactly transpires the film doesn’t really care about, and wisely so. We only get a vague idea of what has occurred, and much of the last scenes are devoted to Tommy Lee Jones’ character, who is able to communicate the effects such brutal violence can have on people. The film quite bleakly suggests that horrific violence can enter without warning into anyone’s life, and that there’s no real protection against it. In an amusing interview I found on Youtube, Tommy Lee Jones is talking to a high-voiced, flamboyant male interviewer, while Jones continues trying to communicate the bleak outlook of the film. The interviewer keeps finishing his sentences with “…but there’s always hope!” The muted argument goes on for a while. Despite (or perhaps because of) the bleak feeling of this film, No Country For Old Men is a brilliant film on all possible fronts: writing, directing, and acting.
Acting! Here’s where Chirguh comes in! When I walked out of this film, I was captivated by the brilliantly subtle ending, as well as Javier Bardem’s performance. I kept tying to think of any character in film that is more terrifying, but I couldn’t. Using his terrifying and painful-looking captive bolt pistol, Chirguh really is a violent, sociopath-ic force of nature. Bardem plays the part so powerfully, too. Nothing I could say about him, or his role, could appropriately convey the fear he inspires.