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Bookmark this pageNo Country for Old Men (2007)
Director: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Synopsis
Joel and Ethan Coen are back with a bloody adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s terse literary thriller about a Texan Vietnam vet who stumbles into the aftermath of a gangland drug operation. Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones and Javier Bardem star.
Movie review
From Time Out London
West Texas, 1980. Out hunting deer in the desert down by the Mexican border, Vietnam veteran Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) happens on a heap of carnage: torn-apart trucks, corpses of men and dogs, the bloody bodies of others who’d be better off dead, and a case packed with cash: about $2 million. With no witnesses, and confident he can handle himself, Moss opts to keep what’s clearly payment in a drugs-handover gone wrong, and treat himself and wife Carla Jean (Kelly Macdonald) to a life considerably better than their trailer-park existence. Trouble is, psychopathic hitman Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) also wants the loot, and begins carefully hunting the hunter, in turn pursued by veteran sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), who can’t help feeling the world’s turning more crazily violent.
The Coens’ first outright adaptation is of a Cormac McCarthy novel so attuned to them that the film feels – at least until the final few scenes – as if it’s based on one of their own original screenplays: ‘Blood Simple’ meets ‘Fargo’, almost. For all its fidelity to its source, however, it’d be wrong to think it merely an illustration. The Coens meticulously select the most filmic moments of McCarthy’s terse, gripping book; they trim the sheriff’s nostalgic reveries and philosophising, embellish and enhance the action, and succeed overall in transforming the novel’s economic descriptions into a full-blown world populated by vivid, plausible characters.
Most impressive, they find a cinematic equivalent to McCarthy’s language: his narrative ellipses, play with point of view, and structural concerns such as the exploration of the similarities and differences between Moss, Chigurh and Bell. Certain virtuoso sequences feel near-abstract in their focus on objects, sounds, light, colour or camera angle rather than on human presence. As in ‘Barton Fink’ or ‘Fargo’, the Coens prove that properly innovative artistry and engrossing entertainment can co-exist to utterly compelling effect.Notwithstanding much marvellous deadpan humour, this is one of their darkest efforts: Chigurh, especially, is a nightmarish creation, polite manners and pageboy bob perversely accentuating the volatility in his strangely logical head. Roger Deakins’ superb camerawork, top-grade performances all round, and understated, assured direction ensure the film exerts a grip from start to end. A masterly tale of the good, the deranged and the doomed that inflects the raw violence of the west with a wry acknowledgement of the demise of codes of honour, this is frighteningly intelligent and imaginative.
Author: Geoff Andrew
Time Out London Issue 1952 - January 14th 2008
User reviews of this film
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- Glanville said...
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Posted on Jan 21 2008 12:36
Shit, shit, shit and finally shit, Ethan Coen & Joel Coen have possibly created their worst film ever. I was looking forward to watching "No Country for Old Men" as I am a big fan of ‘Barton Fink’ and ‘Fargo’.
I felt totally disappointed not to mention let down by this Slow, totally gutless excuse for a film. Is the piggy bank running low on funds boys?
On the up side there were moments when I thought, ok this could be interesting and lead somewhere, but sadly the seed never grew.
My advise to you hard core Coen fans is, don’t waste your money, wait until it is available to rent on DVD. The rest of you don’t bother. - Report as inappropriate
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- Charlie winter said...
- Posted on Jan 20 2008 17:25 This Film is PANTS!!!!! it isnt worth the 2 hours that it is on... Guys really dont waste your time, money, or petrol getting to see it!!!! its just plop of mess stuck together to try and create a film, i could have done better with some sticky tape and PVA glue!!!! Totally disapointed in Tommy Lee Jones as he does good films generally
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- Emmily said...
- Posted on Jan 20 2008 15:39 I feel as though the makers of this film owe me something, if not for the atrocity that is this film but for the hours of my life that I wasted watching it. Guns, violence, bloody deaths... all the elements of a brilliant film were there but somehow they were lost among the tedious monotony and dragging scenes. And seriously, what kind of ending was that?
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- Paul said...
- Posted on Jan 20 2008 15:36 Fantastic entertainment if you have half a brain and love a bit of violence. Don;t bother if you like Die Hard.
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- darren said...
- Posted on Jan 20 2008 14:49 people dont waste ur time and money went just coz of the comments from this site, totally disappointed!
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- tony hammond said...
- Posted on Jan 20 2008 14:29 i avnt seen it yet am garna watch it day so it beta be good
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- Lawford said...
- Posted on Jan 20 2008 14:03 Saw this as a surprise preview at the Curzon just after Christmas. I doubt I'll enjoy another film more this year. I agree it fizzles out just at the end but it doesn't spoil the experience
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- sam said...
- Posted on Jan 19 2008 23:37 Starts off good and does have some story line however many scenes drag. I generally felt annoyed that i paid £8 to go and see it especially when it just all of a sudden ended. Not the best film i have ever seen!!!. Really don't know how it got four stars.
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- Carl said...
- Posted on Jan 19 2008 21:52 A masterpiece, one of the greatest experiences I've ever had in a movie theatre. I'm just wondering what kind of film Time Out reserves its hallowed sixth star for if not for the likes of this.
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- Pete said...
- Posted on Jan 17 2008 22:15 started out promising.....became totally confusing and disjointed.....in fact lacking ..........
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- Fiercehairdo said...
- Posted on Oct 29 2007 14:42 This was the surprise film at the London Film Festival which I saw last night. It was AMAZING!!!!!! It's kinda like Blood Simple and Fargo crossed with Terminator. Incredibly tense, edge of your seat suspense and unpredictable, unconventional story telling. Great performances. By the end you feel so constantly surprised and edgy from all the surprise turns that all you can do is expect the unexpected. The Coen brothers back at the top of their game. And what a great treat for the surprise film - one of the best films of the festival!
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Cast & crew
Director: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Cast: Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Kelly MacDonald, Garret Dillahunt, Tess Harper, Barry Corbin, Stephen Root, Javier Bardem full cast
Duration: 122 mins
US Release: Nov 9 2007
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