If you’re going to go see “No Country for Old Men,” don’t go expecting to see Hollywood. Two of America’s most impressive directors, Joel and Ethan Coen, have once again conjured up a masterpiece of unrelenting storytelling. With credits that span over films like “The Big Lebowski”, “O Brother Where Art Thou?”, and “Fargo” it is with astonishing procurement that the Coen brothers have created such a unique experience on top of their already extraordinary accomplishments.
Working with intricate precision from a novel by Cormac McCarthy, “No Country for Old Men” religiously tells the story of a hunter (Josh Brolin) in Texas who stumbles upon the remains of a drug deal shoot-out to find a case full of $2 million in cash. At the same time, a menacingly psychopathic killer is hot on his trail, killing his prey by the flip of a coin and an oxygen tank. Tying it all together in poetic and allusive fashion is the sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones) who has witnessed his world become something ugly and unrelentingly evil.
From the moment evil emerges on the screen, Javier Bardem churns stomachs, tenses jaws, and shortens fingernails. As he portrays the psychopathic killer named Anton Chigurh, Bardem clutches the audience at the throat with a performance that rivals the movie likes of Norman Bates, Jack Torrance, and Hannibal Lecter.
On the flip-side is Tommy Lee Jones portraying Sheriff Ed Tom Bell. With his character acting as the observant narrator, we devour dialogue that speaks for a brighter world, but sees a darker one. Here, Jones helps this already perfect thriller become a film that is more about the fears in this man’s heart; the fears for a world he can no longer control.
While most of this movie might look like an edge-of-your-seat thriller, “No Country for Old Men” thrives in the extra mile of painting a picture for a haunting effect. Told through the depths of a decaying society, this story emerges with a tour de force cast, marvelously perfect cinematography, and a disturbing perception of our world. This is a film about fate and how the basic instincts of human beings have churned it into a matter of only death. Hollywood cinema-goers might never agree, but this is movie-making at its finest.
Four stars out of four
