Rating of
3/4
No Country for Predictability
goodfellamike - wrote on 10/26/08
The utter emptiness of the Texas desert is glorified in the opening scenes of No Country for Old Men, the Coen Brother’s latest violent, eccentric effort. As is the calm drawl of Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) as he reminisces of a man he arrested for a senseless murder. Soon afterwards, more senseless murders plague the sheriff’s territory.
Llewellyn Moss (Josh Brolin, much more grown-up than he was in The Goonies) is out hunting for the day when he stumbles upon a drug deal gone awry. There are drugs, lots of trucks and just about everyone is dead (even the dog). After some quick thinking and knowledgeable tracking, Moss comes across the large sum of money that one of the wounded dealers walked away with and takes it for himself. This one act will bring him in contact with the emotionless, juggernaut psychopath Anton Chigurgh (the hulking, inimitable Javier Bardem) who kills, literally, by the toss of a coin.
Once a game of cat and mouse ensues between Moss and Chigurgh, all predictability goes out the window. This is a movie that doesn’t play by the perfect rules of the thriller genre.
Other character become entangled in the web: there’s Carla Jean (Kelly Macdonald), Llewellyn’s mousy, child-like wife; Carson Wells (Woody Harrelson), a bounty hunter hired by the businessman (Stephen Root) who set up the drug deal. Carson is an acquaintance of Chigurgh’s, and knows exactly how to find him and the missing money.
The chase leads us and the characters through several unpredictable scenes deftly directed by The Two-Headed Director; a particular standout is a scene when Llewellyn unwisely decides to revisit the scene of the drug deal which, when over, will leave him shaken, a murderer, and completely wet. Another masterful scene is when Chigurgh tracks down Llewellyn to a seedy hotel room and both men get injured in a fight that leads from the room to the street to another part of town.
This is a movie full of smart, intriguing characters and one is never sure just what lies behind the next corner. Unfortunately, the film takes a lot of chances in the final half an hour and leaves too much up in the air. Too much ambiguity or uncertainty can be detrimental: you may have to ask yourself such questions as – Where’s the money? What happens to the wife? Where does Anton go? How did the Mexican thugs track down Llewellyn? How exactly did the bounty hunter find them in Mexico so quickly? What is the significance of Jones visiting his father in the closing moments? Why are we deprived of a pertinent scene involving the death of one of the main characters? All these questions could very well be answered in the book, but are left to the viewer to answer themselves. No Country for Old Men turns into a different film, one that feels like no one is in control, much different that what has been occurring. Such a well-crafted story shouldn’t be deserted like it eventually is here! FInal Grade: B
