No Country For Old Men
released 2007
www.ink2quill.com

“No Country For Old Men” is an American, crime, thriller, action film directed by the Coen Brothers, Joel and Ethan Coen,.who also wrote the screenplay. It is based on Cormac McCarthy´s novel of the same name and is produced by Scott Rudin, Ethan and Joel Coen. It stars Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Woody Harrelson, Kelly Macdonald, Garret Dillahunt, Tess Harper, Barry Corbin, Stephen Root, Rodger Boyce, Beth Grant, Ana Reeder, Kit Gwin, Zach Hopkins, Chip Love, Eduardo Antonio Garcia, Gene Jones, Myk Watford, Boots Southerland, Kathy Lamkin, Johnnie Hector, Angelo Martinez, Maragaret Bowman and many more. It has been nominated for many awards and is adored by critics and viewers alike.

No Country For Old Men IMDb webpage

“No Country For Old Men” is a story that takes place near the U.S., Mexican border around the late 1970s beginning 1980s. Llewelyn Moss, played by Josh Brolin, stumbles across the aftermath of a drug deal that turned deadly and the loot from that drug deal in a bag. In the bag is two million dollars in cash. Now keep in mind that this is circa 1980 so that money is worth even more than what it would be today. That means that the owners of the cash will undoubtedly come looking for it and whomever stole it and since they´re probably a dangerous, violent bunch Llewelyn knows right away he has to hide. He sends his wife to live with her parents and hides out in a motel. What follows is a cat and mouse chase where Llewelyn is chased by the sadistic, homicidal assassin Anton Chigurh, played by Javier Bardem.

I really like the actors in this film and the genuine feel of the time period.
It´s not an easy thing to do right and I feel this film got it spot on. And of course, it´s a Coen Brothers film so it´s most likely going to be good. This movie is loaded with action, good dialogue and characters that are likeable and relateable.

I love the way they make the secondary characters as interesting as the as the two main ones. Hats off to Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin for not being too narcissistic about that. Most actors wouldn´t take such roles where they are not constantly the center of attention. (I won´t mention names. Really I won´t.). If they did, they would try to pressure the producer or director to make changes to the script even if it meant ruining the film. Yes, that´s the level of narcissism of some people.

What I really liked about this film was how I expected more story at the end. It felt unfinished as if our imagination was supposed to take over. It breaks storytelling rules by taking out or hiding certain elements in storytelling you find in most stories. There is no final crescendo or revelation at the end like a neatly wrapped package. This isn´t the formulaic, Hollywood tale and I really liked it for that. So check it out folks because the Coen Brothers have done it again.

John

I2Q Blogs / The Visual Medium coen / ink2quill / quill /