No Country for Old Men Review- By Michael Carlisle

Title: No Country For Old Men
Year: 2007
Director: Coen Brothers
Country: US
Language: English

In 2007 a slew of great films hit cinemas worldwide, even Hollywood could seemingly do no wrong. It was the year of Guy Maddin's My Winnipeg, Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood and the "Best Picture" winning No Country For Old Men. Indeed the Coen Brothers won three Oscars at the following Academy Awards, their film had become a hit with audiences and critics alike. Is No Country their greatest film? perhaps not, but it's pretty damn good regardless. 

In rural Texas, welder and hunter Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) discovers the remains of several drug runners who have all killed each other in an exchange gone violently wrong. Rather than report the discovery to the police, Moss decides to simply take the two million dollar present for himself. This puts the psychopathic killer, Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), on his trail as he dispassionately murders nearly every rival, bystander and even employer in his pursuit of his quarry and the money. Meanwhile, the aging Sherrif Ed Tom Bell (Tom Lee Jones) blithely oversees the investigation.

The Coen Brothers purposely play this picture like the typical Hollywood Western. We have a genuine hero in Sherriff Ed, a character who shoots straight in terms of morals. Then we have our anti-hero in Llewelyn Moss, he's neither good nor bad, he simply sees unclaimed money and wishes to take it for our own. Finally we get the antagonist of the story, Anton Chigurh, who is perhaps the most cold and ruthless villain in film history. He is shockingly human, which makes his murders all the more unsettling. Clear moral lines are drawn and the Coens make their audience desperately want the typical Hollywood ending, but of course it never comes. 

No Country For Old Men breaks all Hollywood traditions and infuriates its American audience because of it. Though we have been following him throughout the film, the anti-hero dies rather abruptly offscreen by an unknown character. The calculating Chigurh is allowed freedom, because the old Sheriff has simply given up. He has been terribly shaken by the events in his investigation. He solemnly discusses two dreams he had about his father, and then the scene quickly cuts to the credits. In 2007 I had absolutely hated this ending, "what is the point? Why is there no resolution?" No Country hints at notions like conservatism, nihilism, free will, morality but never says anything definitive. It is a complex, thought provoking film with plenty of themes and points for discussion

In conclusion, actor Josh Brolin has defended the ending saying "I love that people are talking about this movie. I love that people leave the movie saying, 'I hate the ending. I was so pissed.' Good, it was supposed to piss you off," The Coens show that violence is pointless, and that happy endings don't always occur in reality. Along with flawless dialogue, acting and cinematography, the Coens have borrowed from Greek Tragedy, Hitchcock, Peckinpah, Nietchze and even the bible to create a picture that stays in the mind long after it's over. Praise it! 5/5