No Country for Old Men: Review

The Coen Brothers have always been a duo that I have respected and enjoyed but would never claim them as bona fide favorites. Sure, Blood Simple and Fargo are wonderful films that I have thoroughly enjoyed and while I enjoyed The Big Lebowski, I've never quite found the complete and utter genius that I must be missing, given the film's rabid following. However, when I heard that the brother's newest film in development happened to be an adaptation of a Cormac McCarthy novel, my interest was raised. When No Country for Old Men was wildly praised at Cannes, I was skeptical as to whether it could live up to both McCarthy's magnificent prose and the massive hype. Thankfully, it does that and more. The hype is more than warranted. For No Country is a full on masterpiece, a brooding thriller that is part noir, part western and all classic.

It should come as no surprise that given my appreciation of their like-minded previous works, that No Country, for me (ending and all, but I'll get to that later) is a masterpiece. From frame one to the last roll of the credits, the film is a nail biting, thoughtful modern western, filled with a palpable grittiness and three characters that are so well crafted and acted, one can't help but think that this may end up on the top of many year end lists as the Best American Film of 2007. Led by a positively fearsome performance by Javier Bardem, who immediately vaults to the top of the Best Actor category, and supported by tremendous work from Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin, No Country never sags, a picture perfect representation of what a thriller can and should be. It'll make you think while simultaneously bringing you to a quivering heap of jelly through its masterful set pieces.

At the film's heart is the story of a simple man, Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) who, while out on a hunting excursion, stumbles upon a drug deal gone wrong. In place of the dust and tire marks that should represent a successful transaction, are a few trucks, a load of bodies, a bunch of drugs and finally, a satchel case full of money. As he stumbles around the area, Llewelyn finds a sole survivor who asks for water, a minute detail that later becomes the cause for the rest of the film. Unfortunately, Llewelyn is clean out so he leaves the scene with the bag of money and returns home. However, as the night drags on, Llewelyn can't cope with the fact that he left the man there to die, so he ventures back out to the site, leaving his wife Carla Jean (Kelly MacDonald) to wait for him.

Brolin, who truly came out of nowhere to have a wonderful acting year, is, once again, great here. While I feel like I continue to say that, the facts don't change. Here he contributes a gruff performance as a prototypical Texan, light on the talk, heavy on action. Upon arriving back at the trucks, he is noticed by a group of men in a pickup truck and, like that, the film takes off into one bone-jarring chase after another. Throw into the mix a bounty hunter, Anton Chigurh (Bardem), hired to track down Brolin and one has all the trappings of a great chase film. What elevates No Country is that Chigurh, brought to terrifying life by Bardem, is the most memorable psychotic to hit the screen in years. The character is so terrific, so scary, so ferocious that one can't shake the images and sounds that will be seared into the brain. Bardem completely inhabits Chigurh, taking a good McCarthy character and making him into something otherworldly, a type of role and performance that comes along once in a decade. In a year with a number of great performances, Bardem stands at the top of the heap. This may be one role that'll follow him the rest of his life as the obvious highlight of an otherwise sterling career.

On the outskirts of it all is the local, aging Sheriff, Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), who is merely trying to keep up with it all. As the film progresses, the body count continues to rise, leaving Bell with nothing to do but shake his head at the carnage and it isn't out of a feeble inability to get things done, but rather, the complete destruction that seems to follow Chigurh around becomes all enveloping. Jones, in the autumn of his career, has been revitalized recently, in a way that is reminiscent of Clint Eastwood, men who seem to get better with age. As the chase nears its end, Bell desperately tries to stop the killing despite his age and tired soul.

Guiding everything here are the Coens as they mix virtuoso sequences with moments of quiet dread. While their cinematic eye has never been in question, it is with No Country that they should forever prove themselves. At the helm are true masters, veterans who have honed their craft to a fine science. Their ability to handle action and theme equally is astonishing, never leaning too heavily on one or the other. Instead, the two settle into a comfortable mix that only a cinematic genius could concoct. The themes never feel heavy, almost John Ford-ish in their subtle nature, and the suspense sequences are stretches of filmmaking that even the most jaded critic will find gripping and enjoyable. This is easily the brother's best work since Fargo, maybe the best of their career.

Much has been made about the film's final third, and while I won't spoil anything here, I found the conclusion to be fitting and satisfying. It injects the film with the type of mythical, almost biblical food for thought that McCarthy wields with grace and ends the narrative on a high note. I can certainly see why some audience members will walk out feeling slighted by the general lack of a tidy conclusion, but that type of disappointment strikes me as short sighted. No Country for Old Men is so much more than just a simple thriller and the film's finale cements that fact. One isn't meant to leave the proceedings feeling comfortable and satisfied. Instead, with a film as violent and dark as this is, one should leave feeling unsettled, wanting to question the actions of the characters in order to understand the themes in a better light. The Coens' wisely leave the ending as it is, refusing to settle for a Hollywood conclusion: it works wonderfully and in the process, solidifies this as one of the best American films of the year.

*****