The Coen Brothers. Cannes Film Festival. Cormac McCarthy. These are some of the sparks of interest that drew me to this film. The Coen brothers are master of their art; despite a few recent missteps most of us knew they would return with this film which critics are hailing as a masterpiece. It was on the top of my must-see list for months and months.
Taking place in a small town in Texas, No Country opens with narration from Tommy Lee Jones who brings a certain gravitas to the role and the film itself. Each shot is meticulously framed; the rolling black streets that carve the desert landscapes. Immediately we are introduced to one the best film villains seen on screen in years: Anton Chigurh, played by Javier Bardem. He brings a quiet menace to the role; he has a goofy, sly smile and an ugly haircut; he never seems to be in a hurry but accomplishes his work with unforgiving, brutal precision. After blowing the brain out of a man on the side of the road and being arrested, the film starts on an enticing and delicious note; Chigurh uses his cuffed hands to strangle the cop; as they writhe in the floor in their death dance Bardem's villain doesn't even seem too worried; he has a haunting expression of both enjoyment and concentration, like this comes too easily for him.
The film has many sequences with very little dialogue; Josh Brolin's character roams the deserts and stumbles across the drug deal gone bad that is the catalyst for the rest of the film. He is our everyman; he takes the money like most of us would and the film follows his efforts at a clean getaway. The film's tag line promises that there "are no clean getaways," and this proves to be correct. The cat and mouse game between Brolin and Bardem is dazzling; two actors who are underrated and not well known to American audiences are at the top of their games. Each proceed with meticulous and quiet deliberation; Brolin manages to stay just ahead of Bardem's assassin. When they finally clash, the Coen Brothers stage one of the most tense confrontations in decades.
The film takes an unexpected turn three-fourths of the way through and had a surprising and startling conclusion. The turn of events left me a little confused and I struggled to keep up; it took me in a direction I never saw coming, something the Coen brothers love to do. The film demands a second viewing to appreciate the grander theme and angle of the movie; despite the screen time, this is not Brolin's film but Tommy Lee Jone's; it is one man's attempt at comprehending the devastating results of a drug deal gone bad; the effects of greed and the ultimate failure of justice. No Country For Old Men has many ideas behind it; some of which will be lost on the typical viewer. It doesn't wrap things up neatly or give answers to all the questions; it is an intelligent film that expects intelligence from its viewers. Easily one of the most impressive films in recent years; beautiful cinematography from R. Deakins punctuates a tight script that was well-adapted from the novel by Cormac McCarthy himself.
My Grade: A-
