Rating of
3.5/4
No country for old men.
Ichabod Crane - wrote on 01/28/08
story 7/10
No country for old men is a good film that only makes one wrong mistake that keeps it away from greatness. The ending is the problem not what happens but how it occurs, and who the ending follows. The ending foolishly has something very important occur off screen, if it had been shown I would not be complaining, but you end up feeling cheated the way they pull it off. After this crucial scene and mistake there is not much left, only scenes involving one character not nearly as important as the others earlier in the story, which causes the scenes to feel pointless, even though they give the film its poetic edge I guess. There is one good scene after the crucial moment which involves the character you want to see, his last scene is really what should have been the only scene after that main moment. Even if all those other scenes are in the book, then the book is at fault too.
Almost all the rest of the film is brilliant in the dialogue, and the intense action sequences. Every scene before the ending is just about perfect. The only other complaint I have is the character of Carson wells, seems to have no importance, his scenes are fine and well acted by Woody Harrelson, but they do not really contribute to the plot.
Acting: 10/10 there are no marks missed with the acting, everyone is superb especially Javier Bardem as the Psychotic Anton Chigurh. Even the small little parts are well acted, and that is very important to keep the overall acting good.
The look: 9/10- Everything is beautiful in this film, with intelligent cinematography. There are no scenes poorly directed, and everything, even the violence is appeasing to the eyes, and I do not mean that in some sick way. I do have a problem though and that is the setting. It is supposed to be set in the 80's and there are far too many things that contradict this. I know this was not high budget but they could have maybe tried a little harder on that. Just check imdb goofs for all the problems.
Sound: 10/10- Not much music but not required either. the sound is perfectly implemented, especially in the intense scenes between the Protagonist and antagonist.
recommend? Yes, especially for people who do not care that much about endings, unfortunately I do care about endings as do many others. So for them I still recommend it because it is so strong early on, but with the disclaimer- You will be disappointed.
