No Country for Old Men ***** (2007, Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin) – Classic Movie Review 334

The Coen Brothers’ sensational, sizzling 2007 crime thriller film No Country for Old Men won four Oscars, was their biggest hit so far, and was undoubtedly the movie of the year.

Certainly the Academy Award voters gave it their Oscar as Best Motion Picture of the Year. And Joel and Ethan Coen won for Best Direction and Best Adapted Screenplay, with Javier Bardem winning for Best Supporting Actor.

No Country for Old Men is based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy (born 1933), author of the novel for the Western film All the Pretty Horses (2000) and the screenplay for The Counsellor (2013). The Road (2009) and Child of God (2013) have also been adapted into films.

Josh Brolin gives a star-making performance as the ever-resourceful Llewelyn Moss, a welder and hunter who stumbles upon the aftermath of a drug deal gone fatally wrong and more than $2million in cash near the Rio Grande. He rides in and finds that there are several corpses of drug runners who have conveniently killed each other. He thinks of calling the cops but instead makes off with the money. But he’s not the only one who would like to keep it – and maybe even live long enough to enjoy it.

A chain of absolutely incredible violence and mayhem ensues, with a series of brilliant set pieces that will keep everyone uncomfortably on the edge of their seats for the whole two hours.

Alfred Hitchcock says: ‘The more successful the villain, the more successful the picture. That’s a cardinal rule.’ Among the villains here that Moss is unfortunate enough to attract along the way is the gloriously flamboyant psychopathic killer, Anton Chigurh. He is doggedly on his trail, killing all in his way in his pursuit of his quarry and the money. Javier Bardem deservedly won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for this devilish performance. It’s breath-taking. He’s one of the most successful villains ever. It’s so much better than his soppy villain Silva in Skyfall that it hurts.

Tommy Lee Jones is the third brilliant turn here as the laconic Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, who calmly oversees the investigation and tries to save Moss from certain death, while he struggles to comprehend the enormity of the crimes he is combating. Woody Harrelson, Kelly Macdonald, Garret Dillahunt, Tess Harper and Barry Corbin also shine bright on the acting front, all spot on.

The screenplay is brilliant, inspiring its authors to deliver a movie of ever relentlessly increasing intensity, building to an appalling, nerve-wracking climax, followed with a cynical, world-weary coda. Roger Deakins’s classy cinematography makes it look an astounding eye-popper too and Carter Burwell’s score gives it a distinguished overlay. Where were their Oscars?

Anyone who likes thrillers, Westerns or chase movies will just love this. Guaranteed. It was rightly hailed as an instant classic. I went to see it three times before it opened in cinemas. I was addicted to it. I’d like to say that it’s the Coens’ best film, but for now I’ll just put it on a par with Fargo, Blood Simple and Miller’s Crossing.

With its folk on horses and its rural Texas setting, it is a pseudo-Western, a modern-day Western then, and a great one. Encouraged by their success here, the Coens then went on to make an actual Western, a remake of True Grit (2010), but with not nearly as much success.

The Coen Brothers’2013 film is Inside Llewyn Davis. What is it with them and Llewelyn/ Llewyn?

Cormac McCarthy (July 20, 1933 – June 13, 2023) wrote 12 novels, two plays, five screenplays, and three short stories, in the Western and post-apocalypse genres. He died of natural causes at his home in Santa Fe, aged 89. Stephen King said he was ‘maybe the greatest American novelist of my time. He was full of years and created a fine body of work.’

http://derekwinnert.com/inside-llewyn-davis-film-review/

http://derekwinnert.com/blood-simple-classic-film-review-289/

http://derekwinnert.com/fargo-classic-film-review-220/

http://derekwinnert.com/millers-crossing-classic-film-review-125/

http://derekwinnert.com/the-big-lebowski-classic-film-review-288/

© Derek Winnert 2013 Classic Movie Review 334

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com/