BTS Mix Movie Review: No Country for Old Men

No Country for Old Men
Recently released on DVD

Review by Doc Hancock

Hi all. Please add your thoughts about this movie. It will be discussed on the BTS Mix Show this week.

This week I saw No Country for Old Men. This movie was based off of the novel by Cormac McCarthy and was written for the screen and directed by the Cohen bothers.

To say that this is a "thinking" movie is an understatement. Sure, on its surface, the movie is a typical cat and mouse game framed in a Western style of movie making - but beneath this rigid surface there is a lot more than meets the eye.

We learn from the very beginning that this indeed is no country for old men. Tommy Lee Jones' character opens the dialogue of the movie with a soliloquy:

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 sheriff's 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. A lotta folks find that hard to believe. Jim Scarborough'd never carry one; that's the younger Jim. Gaston Borkins wouldn't wear one up in Camanche County. I always liked to hear about the oldtimers. Never missed a chance to do so. You can't help but compare yourself gainst the oldtimers. Can't help but wonder how theyd've operated these times. There was this boy I sent to the 'lectric chair at Huntsville here a while back. My arrest and my testimony. He killt a fourteen-year-old girl. Papers said it was a crime of passion but he told me there wasn't any passion to it. Told me that he'd been planning to kill somebody for about as long as he could remember. Said that if they turned him out he'd do it again. Said he knew he was going to hell. "Be there in about fifteen minutes". I don't know what to make of that. I surely don't. The crime you see now, it's hard to even take its measure. It's not that I'm afraid of it. I always knew you had to be willing to die to even do this job. But, I don't want to push my chips forward and go out and meet something I don't understand. A man would have to put his soul at hazard. He'd have to say, "O.K., I'll be part of this world."

This ultimately sets the tone for the rest of the movie. This "new evil" is none other than our good "friendo" Anton Chiguhr played by Javier Bardem. When we first meet Chiguhr, he is being arrested. Once he is brought into the Sherriff's office, we immediately understand the level of evil that Chiguhr is capable of because he strangles the deputy to death with the handcuffs that he is wearing. The Coen brothers capitalize on this moment to illustrate a great deal about Chiguhr because once the deputy is dead, the floor of the office is riddled with streak marks from the shoes of the deputy as he struggles with his attacker. The end result is a mix of streaks and blood almost resembling a later Jackson Pollack suggesting that there is some form of art to Chiguhrs mayhem.

At the same time, somewhere out in the vast desert, Lewelyn Moss, played by Josh Brolyn, comes across an abysmal scene of a drug deal gone horribly wrong. Inspecting the site, Moss finds a satchel with money. Moss also comes across one of the drug dealers who has been wounded. The man asks Moss for water, but Moss ultimately leaves him to die. Upon returning home with the new found money, Moss is riddled with guilt that he left the man to die, so, against his better judgment, he returns to the scene of the crime with a gallon of water for the man. This time - he is not alone. Chiguhr is there, and he wants that money back.

The rest of the movie is the Pursuit of Moss by Chiguhr. Meanwhile, Sheriff bell is trying to come to terms with this new evil in hopes that he can protect Moss from the danger that he is in.

The movie explores the brutal reality of owning up to our past and taking on our future. It redefines pure evil and reminds us that evil is always evolving to try and stay one step ahead of the do gooders.

This is a great movie. I highly recommend it!


BTS Mix Rating: 9.8 out of 10.


Agree or disagree? Chime in and give it your own rating! 1 through 10. 10 being the perfect movie.






[edit on 24-3-2008 by Doc Hancock]

When I think of the best films of 07 two films instantly come to mind and they are No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood. Not only are these two movies the best of 07 they are two of the best movies I have ever seen! NCFOM was simply amazing.. the Coen Brothers never let me down. Chigurh is one of the baddest bad guys I have ever seen. That silenced shotgun was insane.

lol forgot to rate it

9.5/10

[edit on 24-3-2008 by Roland Deschain]

NCFOM was pretty original actually. It had that unique "Pulp Fiction" quality to it almost, it all seemed so real that it's like you were dreaming.

TWBB had some very powerful acting but didn't impress me too much as far as movies go.

Doc, have you seen these reviews? Posted some time ago.
I have also reviewed other movies with lots of feedback from other members. Check in my profile under other posts, if you are interested.



www.belowtopsecret.com...

[edit on 24-3-2008 by whaaa]