No Country For Old Men (movie review)
 

I thought this was a good movie though violent. Story held my interest. I really couln't predict what was going to happen next. I like Tommy Lee Jones as an actor.

Thoughts and comments...? >>>

I liked it, to. It was pretty intense. The end really surprised me. I think it won several Oscars, didn't it? This one and There Will Be Blood were two of the best movies I saw in the last year.

I thought it was kinda crappy, just a stupid abrupt ending. I know it's based on a novel and i dont think it made the movie transition very well.

I told my wife that after I got the suitcase full of money, I would have returned for the truckload of drugs ($$) immediately and then just left for good. His WORST mistake was returning the next day.

It doesn't pay to bring water to a dead guy. Second mistake was keeping the briefcase. First thing I would have done would have been to empty the case and play with all the cash. I would have found that homing device for sure and smashed it. ;)

Yeah, but then you'd be in a boring movie. Who'd want to watch that?!:P

Decent movie but not best Picture material. A lot of the big name characters had roles not pertinent to the story, like Woody Harrelson. Hell, Tommy lee could have stayed out of it as well and the movie was just as good, he did no great crime busting.

Yeah, I thought Tommy Lee's character was rather peripheral to the story. It wasn't really, it just seemed like the killer and they guy who found the money were the main characters.

I think the impotence of the Tommy Lee Jones character is an important part of the film. It contributes to the overall lack of justice in McCarthy's universe. I think it's this dark vision of an amoral universe that makes the film so powerful.

That sounds just like something a philosophy professor would say. :rolleyes:

NCfOM: WTF??
 

I was just about to start up a similar topic. Yesterday, intrigued by all the Oscar noise, I went.

The movie's top notch, a crime story to rival anything Elmore Leonard's ever done -- until the last 20 minutes. If you leave when Josh Brolin's welder/cowboy, Llewellyn Moss, arrives at the El Paso motel, and go home and write your own ending, it's likely to be a heckuva lot better than this. Moss, who we've followed since the first frames of the movie, just vanishes from the story.

Wha??? If you set up a battle like this between two antagonists, you need to have a payoff! The good guy doesn't have to win, of course, and the villain doesn't have to be killed. But you need a payoff of *some* kind for your audience! I mean, suppose Og, the Cro-Magnon tribal storyteller, climaxed his exciting story of an epic mammoth hunt by saying only, "Oh, the mammoths got away, so we came back home." The rest of the tribe would stone him.

Maybe I missed something; maybe Moss *is* killed; but it's murky and unclear to me. I thought it was the mother-in-law who was killed at the motel. If Moss was killed there, okay; but why not show his face in the morgue when Sheriff Ed Tom (Tommy Lee Jones) is alone there with the body?

I suspect I wouldn't like the novel, either -- I hear it's full of long digressions, and doesn't have quotation marks, which always makes me claustrophobic.

That said, Anton the psycho cattle-gun killer is as creepy as Hannibal Lecter or Harry Roat Junior, and Brolin and Jones just plain inhabit their roles.
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Yeah, the way this ended was a shocker to me. Maybe a little too much reality for a movie.

Here's an interesting take on the film.

http://www.christandpopculture.com/film/hope-defered-no-country-for-old-men/

I can't comment on how the film deviates from the book since I haven't read it, but I read Tommy Lee Jones dream story at the end completely differently. The fact that it occurred in a dream, I took to indicate that the hope for justice and redemption is nothing but a dream as opposed to the transcendent intervention that this author sees.

Thank you, everybody, for your comments. This is a movie I wont waste my time watching.

Thanks for the link. I especially like this take on the film:

"Ultimately, No Country for Old Men is a stunning Coen Brother’s film and a misleading McCarthy film. The Coens successfully convey the inherent brutality of man through stunning visuals and wonderfully acted scenes, but they fail to include the very information the audience needs to make sense of this fact."

I think this is one of the cases where I will just read the book and not see the movie.

I haven't read his books but my wife has. She thinks his books are just as dark as the movie, so she did not see them the same way that blogger did. I think it must be a question of what lenses the reader is wearing.

The ending ruined the rest of the film IMO. Brolin's character's death could have been dramatic, and after we have to assume the killer does in Brolin's wife, he is never seen again.

There should have been some confrontation between the sheriiff and the killer.

Could have done something else with my time.

.02

Do you think that the fact that there wasn't a direct confrontation between good and evil added to the dark power of the film? It's not that good battles and loses but that the good is never able to even confront the evil. Good is so impotent it can't even assemble the resources to get remotely close enough to evil to make any difference.

I can see your point, although I don't think it realistic at all,to portray the bad guy as almost invincible.

He must have killed about 30 people in the film, more or less, and he managed to walk away with a shot up leg, excluding the car accident?

The hotel scene where Josh Brolin's character was killed. There were several heavily armed men there, including Brolin, and he managed to kill them all?

Not likely to happen in the real world IMO.

The point of the movie is the title. Tommy Lee Jones (old man) doesn't fit anymore. That's why there was never any confrontation between him and Chigur. It's why the dramatic conflict w/Brolin's character is not shown. The story isn't about Brolin's character. Brolin is one of the new guys Jones talks about not understanding in the opening monologue.
It's also why the movie stops rather than ends. Once Jones gives up on trying to remain in his world (sherriffing), the movie's over.

I don't think it's about good and evil at all. It's about the old getting beaten by the new.

I thought it was a pretty good movie. Four oscars. The ending was not what I would have wished.....but perhaps as it should have been since the vet was not really doing the right thing.

The bad guy getting away unfortunately is not unrealistic.

Though he did a lot of really reckless things in which in real life he probably would have been caught in the act or they just would not have worked out.

Some really great scenery of the dry, dry west.

Tom W

Yea, loved the locations. The stark landscape made the film. Reminded my of the Three Burials of Melciades Estrada.
I've never paddled the Rio Grand thru Big Bend but one day I'd like to.

This is the kind of film that affects me for 2 days afterwards. It was full of negativity and ugliness. For some reason, I expected something more light-hearted. The ending was a head scratcher for sure. My question is, why didn't he just get on the bus with the bag and leave with his wife, instead of sticking around town? Some people said you have to see this movie 2 or 3 times to fully understand what happened, but I think I'll pass.

Also, if I were the state of Texas, I would sue for defamation of character.

He separated because he knew they would come after him and he didn't want her in danger. I think he expected to deal with them, then meet back up with her.

The end makes sense if you consider Tommy Lee Jones's character the main one. At the beginning of the movie, he tells you about all the former sherriffs who didn't even used to carry guns. The movie is a slice of life of Jones's character. The slice near the end where he feels he can't fit in the world in the way that he used to.

I agree. He planned to kill the guy who was after him.

I agree about Tommy Lee too.

HIs laconic delivery of lines was especially entertaining to me.....(examining the murder scene in the begining)....."yes, appears there was a glitch or two"....

I really liked the vietnam vet character too.....he saw this as an opportunity to grab. Nobody deserved the money and his life was unrewarding so he figured why not take a chance? I am pretty sure I would never have tried that, but when I saw dead bodys I wouldn't have approached it all either....perhaps if I saw someone alive I would have.

But that was set in 1980 and he was six years out of nam or so, so he had seen it all and it did not frighten him.

I rather liked it.

Kindof amazing it got four oscars though.

It did have some of the quality of the "Three Burials..." movie! (Talk about a strange one!)

Tom W

I rented it over the weekend and I will admit to being very conflicted about the ending of the movie, especially given how good the Cohen brothers were at maintaining a good pace with the story while at the same time never giving us the complete picture of what was going on. It was almost like we were thrown into the situation in the exact same way that Llewellyn was. And the movie doesn't wrap up into a nice little package, either.

What struck me most powerfully was the realization that none of the characters that we had invested *any* time with were successful in achieving their goals. Brolin's character didn't get to keep the money or his life. Tommy Lee Jones didn't protect anyone. Javier Bardem didn't recover the money. Woody Harrelson couldn't recover the money or stop Bardem. The only successful people were the Mexicans who were related to the failed drug deal, and the only real camera time they get is at the bus station when they find out that Brolin is in El Paso.

So in that respect it is a lot like real life: heroes fail, villains fail, regular people fail. And just because the "two hours transit across the stage" (to paraphrase Shakespeare) has come and gone, you don't automatically get resolution. Whether you liked it or not, when was the last time a movie compelled you to question it or discuss it?

How long did it take other people to realize that there was no soundtrack to this movie. It struck me about halfway through that music wasn't being used in any way. All of the dramatic tension came from the acting and the script. That is pretty powerful on its own.

I did not notice it.

I saw a gangster movie a few years ago that did not use any curse words. It was interesting that I didn't notice until it was at least 75% done.

I thought that was pretty refreshing.

How many ways can you say the f word and make it sound fresh?

Tom W

I thought it was a little TOO realistic. I think the bad guy getting away is probably a lot more realistic than we would like it to be, don't you?

I guess that's why human beings came up with the concept of heaven and hell. We're just optimistic enough to hope there will be some justice SOMEwhere along the line.

Just to be sure . . .
 

I borrowed the novel from the library.

The Coens' film is pretty close to it. In the novel, it's clear that Moss is dead; the Sheriff, Ed Tom (Tommy Lee Jones's character) sees his body at the scene or the morgue. Which should have been in the film. But it still leaves us feeling cheated; we're not sure who killed Moss, the Mexican group or Chigurh -- and McCarthy should have shown it to us! We've followed this guy Moss and been rooting for him for 200 pages, and then we don't get to see his death??!!??

For my money, that's gypping the reader. It's almost as if McCarthy started out to write an Elmore Leonard-ish crime novel, and lost interest in it 3/4 of the way through.

I've sampled his All the Pretty Horses (also a movie, I understand), and lost interest 10 pages in. I like literary fiction on occasion -- but I don't see why it can't tell a real story, too. See Steinbeck, John, literary works of.
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Steinbeck is very, very hard to beat.

Have you read travels with charley?

I think that's the dog's name.

A very good read.

Tom W

It was in the movie. Jones walks up to Moss lying shot in the hotel room doorway, then they show him leave the morgue when he talks to that other sheriff.


Also, I understood that Chigurh got the money. When they showed him hand the $100 to the kid for his shirt, I understood that to mean he got it, as it echoed Moss buying that guy's jacket.

That makes sense.

Tom W

Oh, gosh, yes. Thankfully I never had his work pushed on me in school, so when I came to read him as an adult, I didn't have any resistance built up. I usually re-read "Travels" any time I'm about to take a trip somewhere, especially a road trip.
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That's just it; I missed it in the El Paso motel scene in the film -- all I glimpsed was somebody that didn't even look like Moss. Maybe that was clear to others . . . but why didn't the Coens show Moss's face at the morgue, when Sheriff Bell is there? It's almost as if they wanted to keep it a secret from the moviegoer.

And if Chigurh was the one to kill Moss and get the $2 million, why was the Mexican group tracking down Moss's wife and mother-in-law? Remember the Mexican who helps the mother-in-law with her suitcase, and she tells him she's going to El Paso? Did he then tell Chigurh? Or were they working independently?
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I may have to watch it again.....when my Mrs is gone for the evening.

Thinking about Travels with Charley made me drag my copy out and I am enjoying it yet again.

Tom W

There was more than one party involved. That's why the honcho in the office tower got offed. Were there two transponders?

I thought the Mexicans got the money. You see them speeding away from the hotel , almost hitting the sherriff's car, as he approaches the scene. I thought at that point Chighur was still making his way towards El Paso.

I thought he sent the money with his wife.

to el paso.

TomW

I assumed the Mexicans were looking for the money becasue they represented the original sellers, and Chigurth had been hired by the buyers, who lost the money and didn't get the drugs.

There was something REALLY unsettling about the fact that Chigurth used a device designed for slaughtering cattle to kill people.

Pretty cool if you ask me....that and the silenced shotgun. ;)

This is for MedMech....

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/postalicons/silenced.jpg

Chigur's haircut alone was deeply disturbing.

Yep, he was some scary, disturbing fellow. At the end when he left after getting in the wreck, it reminded me of those Halloween movies, where the evil character just won't die.

lol....a close 2nd had to be that Ford Granada. :P

Here's how I understood it: Chigurh is independent of the Mexicans. They tracked down Moss's wife & her mother after Moss got rid of the transponder. The fact that the sherriff knew where she was as soon as he knew Moss was out of town to me meant it was obvious to anyone where she'd go. So it wasn't hard for the Mexicans. They followed the wife&her mother to the motel in El Paso. Waited for Moss to show up, shot up the place, killing Moss and the mother. Hightailed it out sans money which was hidden and they wouldn't have had time to look since shooting was going on when the sherriff pulls up. Chigurh told Moss he already knew where his wife & her mother were, so he shows up, just too late to kill Moss. But, he knows where the money is hidden, and takes it. He kills Moss's wife for the reason he tells her.

I think the money was not at the hotel where moss was killed. The MIL was not killed there was she?

The mexicans were hightailing it out before they could have known the sheriff was coming (it looked like to me).

I am gonna have to watch it again!

Tom W

This movie is being discussed next month in my World Lit. class.

Here's the way I see it, subject to revision after multiple viewings: ;)

Chigurh is hired by the man in the office who he eventually kills. He's the money side of the drug transaction that went wrong - which is why his guys had the transmitter/receiver. The reason the man in the office has to hire Woody Harrelson's character (Carson Wells, daytrader extraordinaine) is because Chigurh ACTUALLY works for the other Mexican gang - the supply side - who caught up with Carla Jean and her Mom on El Paso. We see Chigurh double cross the man who hires him by killing the two city slickers who turn over the tracking receiver.

The drugs are recovered by the Mexican suppliers the night they end up chasing and shooting Moss.

Chigurh never finds the money....Moss had plenty of time to stash the cash and was clever enough to rent 2 hotel rooms before, right? I think the whereabouts of the money dies with Moss.

Carla Jean's Mother had cancer (I suspect she dies that way)...there was no timeline shown before Chigurh comes to her mother's home to kill Carla Jean - it could have been several weeks or even months. They don't show the funeral for Moss himself do they? Perhaps Chigurh had an ounce of humanity in him and wanted to let the old lady die before he killed her daughter....it's possible...he let the shopkeeper go after we "won" the coin toss...

The sheriff walks past the mother in law lying dead next to a cab(?) on his way to Moss. The Mexicans couldn't have known the sheriff was coming, but as he drives up, there is still shooting going on, so they can't have looked for the money.
As for the money, when the sheriff goes back to Moss's room, we see the vent removed, and Chigurh is hiding somewhere. I think the money is like Mr. Pink from Resevoir Dogs. It's intentionally left vague, requiring you to fill it in. For me, Chigurh got the money.

Didn't remember seeing the dead mom at the shootout...thanks, I'll watch for it the next time I see the movie.

In the book, Chigurh does recover the money and actually presents it to the CEO/dude that he kills in the movie.

After a little further research, I found it very interesting some of the parallel to real life: The drug smuggler named Chagra

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamiel_Chagra

....an interesting discussion:

http://www.charlierose.com/shows/2007/11/16/1/a-discussion-about-the-film-no-country-for-old-men

Turns out Woody Harrelson's father was convicted of being the hired gun to kill a judge in Texas for Chagra.

Then, Woody plays a hired hitman in this movie....:eek:

This is what's been troubling me, too. Why would he hide the money in his room in a vent (again)? Clearly, Chigurh opened the vent to look for it -- I think there was a dime (same coin he used earlier to access the first vent) sitting on the floor near the vent screen and screws in the hotel room. Further, Jones' character knows Chigurh is still in the room, as he looks specifically at the bathroom window and sees it's still locked.

The mother-in-law dies later. She arrives at the crime scene with her daughter (in the cab) that night. I also took her death to be of natural causes.