No Country for Old Men (18)

Directors : Joel and Ethan Coen

Starring: Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Woody Harrelson

Synopsis: Texas, in the early ‘80s: Whilst out hunting deer, Llewellyn Moss (Brolin), stumbles across the aftermath of a drug deal gone sour. Amidst all the bodies he discovers a lot of heroin, $2million in cash, and a wounded survivor, pleading for water. Moss takes the money and leaves, but during the night his conscience pricks him enough to return to the scene with a drink of water for the survivor. This turns out to be a dumb idea. Not only does Moss find himself on the run from Mexican drug lords, but also the Money Men, and their agent Anton Chigur (Bardem)...

Review: Just for once, I am glad that a movie got a delayed release in the UK, if only because this was the perfect movie to kick off the New Year. The Coen brothers had a couple of critical flops in recent years, with Intolerable Cruelty and The Lady killers, but have returned in tonnes of style and grace with this adaptation of Cormac Macarthy’s novel. Not everyone is going to be comfortable with it, but if you can allow yourself to go beyond the usual codes and conventions of a thriller, then like me you will find this almost perfect.

This is not an Action Movie per se, but it plays about with the conventions we know so well. Every time we think we know the direction the movie is going to take, it sucker-punches us. There are some big surprises in this movie, and you will find yourselves almost bi-polar in your response to it.

The movie has two tales to tell. On the one hand you have the misadventures of Llewllyn Moss, trying to find a way out of danger and keep hold of the money. But this story is just part of a bigger tale of how the West is changing, disappearing into nothing but old tales. All through the film, Tommy Lee Jones has these colourful, gruesome anecdotes, and these stories about his forefather sheriffs, and you realise that Moss and Chigur will become just another story, another signpost on the road to hell, another reason why he’s ready to retire.

The scenes with Tommy Lee Jones’ sheriff remind me of the opening scene of From Dusk Til Dawn, or the Sheriff and Deputy scene from Kill Bill. See especially the scene where Jones and his deputy check out the drug deal crime scene: very laid back, but professionally assessing the situation. You can almost see the weight of the world sitting on Jones’ shoulders; he looks so sullen and beaten as a man. It is a remarkable performance. Bardem has the flashier role, but you truly sympathise with the sheriff.

Moss isn’t particularly smart – it takes him an inordinate amount of time to realise that there is a tracking device in the money, for example – but he has a lot of cunning and is at heart a survivor. Unfortunately for him, Chigur is intelligent, and ruthless. There’s a scene shortly after Moss finds the tracking device, and is waiting in his hotel room with the light off, watching for tell-tale silhouettes under the door...when Chigur turns the lobby light off. Because he’s been there before – sneaking up on people who are ready and waiting for him.

The ensuing chase sequence is one of the best, most nail biting episodes I have watched in a long time, almost rivalling the Waterloo Station part of Bourne Ultimatum. You don’t even see Chigur for the most of it; you just feel his presence in the darkness and shadows, and the muzzle-flash of his gun betraying his position.

If you think of the memorable cinematic killers and criminals of recent years, the ones that have crossed over from celluloid to part of our vocabulary – De Niro’s Max Cady from Cape Fear, Hannibal Lecter, Kaiser Soze – now we can add Anton Chigur to that list. He is one of the most enigmatic, dangerous people ever created. How dangerous, you ask? Well, let’s just say he’ll find a way to hurt you even after you’re dead...


Verdict: A totally engrossing tale of how the West became lawless once again, as the peacemakers are stretched too thin and can’t come to terms with the violent evil surrounding them in their small towns. An adult tale, as you’d expect from the Coen Brothers. Keep your brain in gear and enjoy the ride.

9 out of 10. Review by MikeOutWest