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NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN Send This Review to a Friend
An accomplished but nonetheless problematical film shown at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival and then at the New York Film Festival is the Coen brothers’ “No Country for Old Men.” There’s no question that Joel and Ethan Coen know how to make a strong movie, as their past record shows. This time around they have opted for a modern (1980) western set in Texas, steeped in violence and based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy, and they are at their best with respect to storytelling and effective style.
Javier Bardem makes a fearsome villain, a psychopath who kills for the amusement of it as he tries to get his hands on drug money that another has made off with. He is thoroughly wicked and not the sort you would want to meet in a dark alley or anywhere else. Bardem makes the most of the character, and his portrayal of Anton Chigurth should linger as one of the screen’s most memorable bad guys.
Tommy Lee Jones plays a sheriff about to retire—if he lives—and others include Josh Brolin Woody Harrelson and Kelly Macdonald. The story certainly holds one’s attention, but there is so much violence, some on screen, some off, that one may recoil from the tale even if hooked by the expertise of the filmmakers.
After it is over, one can acknowledge how well made the film is, and yet say “So What? Did we need this?”
That may seem an ungrateful response. But frankly, I grow tired of expertise shown off on material that doesn’t seem worth the effort. That said, I know many will get pleasure just from enjoying the skill of the filmmakers, and even from this nasty story. Some may even find meaning in it all. A Miramax Films and Paramount Vantage release.
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