No Country for Old Men (2007)

User Rating:

8.3/10   

Directors:

Ethan Coen
Joel Coen

Writers (WGA):

Joel Coen (screenplay) &
Ethan Coen (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

21 November 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller | Western

Tagline:

There Are No Clean Getaways

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Money | Killer | Murder | Sheriff | Discovery

Awards:

Won 4 Oscars. Another 93 wins & 44 nominations

Cast

Tommy Lee Jones	...	Sheriff Ed Tom Bell
Javier Bardem	...	Anton Chigurh
Josh Brolin	...	Llewelyn Moss
Woody Harrelson	...	Carson Wells
Kelly Macdonald	...	Carla Jean Moss
Garret Dillahunt	...	Deputy Wendell
Tess Harper	...	Loretta Bell
Barry Corbin	...	Ellis
Stephen Root	...	Man who hires Wells
Rodger Boyce	...	Sheriff Roscoe Giddens
Beth Grant	...	Carla Jean's Mother
Ana Reeder	...	Poolside Woman
Kit Gwin	...	Sheriff Bell's Secretary
Zach Hopkins	...	Strangled Deputy
Chip Love	...	Man in Ford

MPAA:

Rated R for strong graphic violence and some language.

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

UK:15 | Ireland:15A | Australia:MA | Portugal:M/18 | Brazil:16 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Finland:K-15 | USA:R (certificate #43473) | Hong Kong:IIB | South Korea:18 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Singapore:NC-16 | New Zealand:R16 | Canada:13+ (Québec) | Canada:14A (British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Canada:18A (Alberta) | Italy:VM14 | Japan:R-15 | Sweden:15 | Netherlands:16 | Israel:16 | Norway:15 | Denmark:15 | Taiwan:R-18 | Spain:18 | South Africa:16 (16V) | Iceland:16 | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Malaysia:18PL | Argentina:16 | Austria:16

Filming Locations:

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Paramount Vantage

Trivia:

This is the second film in history to share the Best Director Oscar between two directors -- the first was between Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise for West Side Story (1961).

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: During the shot of Sheriff Bell's reflection on the TV in Llewelyn's home, you can see at the far right corner of the television the reflection of three crew members.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Ed Tom Bell: I was sheriff of this county when I was twenty-five years old. Hard to believe. My grandfather was a lawman; father too. Me and him was sheriffs at the same time; him up in Plano and me out here. I think he's pretty proud of that. I know I was. Some of the old time sheriffs never even wore a gun...

Movie Connections:

Features Flight to Tangier (1953)

Soundtrack:

Puño de tierra

You need to call it. I can't call it for you. It wouldn't be fair.

No Country for Old Men is as exceptional a mix of two creative talents- the Coen brothers, Joel and Ethan Coen, and author Cormac McCarthy (recent winner of the Pulitzer for The Road, his own masterpiece) as one could imagine, as they converge on a story that in lessor hands would be just a B movie. The story concerns an average Joe out hunting one day in Texas who comes across a bunch of dead bodies, heroin, and a satchel with 2 million in cash. He takes it, but without knowing that a true embodiment of a psychopath (Javier Bardem) is on his trail, and as he evades him it becomes more and more clear the fatalism that lies in store, as a weathered sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones) is also on the trail with perpetulally sad eyes looking on from his stolid demeanor.

More than this, it's also about as good a morality play as one could ask for, because it plays and tools and makes very serious questions about what is moral, or what isn't, or what is so ambiguous that it's all up to the toss of a coin or a chance ride out of town. There are a few interpretations to Bardem's character Anton that could be taken, but one thing is certain- he's less a symbol than a real presence, a "ghost" as Jones's sheriff calls him that can come around at the drop of a pin, usually in the dark, and strike the utmost fear (or confusion if you're a clerk) in the hearts of men and women. You'll never look at a coin toss the same way again. Or an air-gun. Or fixing a bullet wound in a leg. Or a hunt at a motel. Or even the aftermath of a car crash.

But at the same time it's the purest time of cinema, recalling Hitchcock and Leone and Welles's Touch of Evil and the best of noir and westerns. There are so many exceptional shots and lighting, so much depth to the perception of the characters through the mis-en-scene, so much tension, that through this it's all up to the actors to make or break the near-perfection that is the McCarthy source. Bardem embodies Anton like no other could- you can't look at his eyes, often steel-cold and horrifically professional (to what professional who can say), which occasional tear- and it's obviously worthy of an Oscar. And Josh Brolin and Tommy Lee Jones are also fantastic; we see Brolin often in the midst of an action scene, a moment of 'save-your-life' going on, and one can finally see an actor of his caliber completely breaking out in a role that doesn't require him to ever totally "emote". Jones, on the other hand, gives a compassionate turn in a film that's about the struggles of desperate men in a land without law and order. He's gone through so much that it comes out completely in his voice and eyes, sorrowful but holding back, and he reaches a level of connection with the character that makes the Fugitive look like simpleton TV. Kelly McDonald, who plays Lleland's wife, is also excellent when called upon, especially in a crucial scene later in the film.

It's gut-wrenching, bleak, violent, super-tense (I clenched many a knuckle during some scenes), surprisingly funny in a darkly comic manner not seen by the Coens in many years, and artistically fashioned to a beat that is meditative (watch the opening moments with Jones's voice-over), simple, and doomed. It's beautiful and terribly tragic, for McCarthy fans it finally strikes at what is truest to his material- even if you haven't read the book itself the Road will give an indication of the mood and atmosphere at hand- and at the moment I can't think of any other film that would be the best pick of the year- maybe one of the best films I've ever seen.