Late last week Marcia and I watched “No Country for Old Men” starring Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones, Kelly MacDonald, and Woody Harrelson.
Thanks to Amazon.Com, here is a rundown on the plot:
In this modern-day Western, Llewelyn Moss (Brolin) is a Vietnam vet who could use a break. One morning while hunting antelope, he spies several trucks surrounded by dead bodies (both human and canine). In examining the site, he finds a case filled with $2 million. Moss takes it with him, tells his wife, Carla Jean (MacDonald), he’s going away for awhile, and hits the road until he can determine his next move. On the way from El Paso to Mexico, he discovers he’s being followed by ex-special ops agent Anton Chigurh (Bardem). Chigurh’s weapon of choice is a cattle gun, and he uses it on everyone who gets in his way - or loses a coin toss (as far as he’s concerned, bad luck is grounds for death). Just as Sheriff Bell (Jones), a World War II vet, is on Moss’s trail, Chigurh’s former colleague Carson Wells (Harrelson), is on his.
This movie is based on the novel of the same name by Cormac McCarthy. I had wanted to read it, but decided to just stick with the movie. McCarthy can be a real challenge to read, for many reasons. The interesting thing that I have read about the book and movie is the level of violence. The movie is quite violent. Yet it has been said that there was less of it then in the book. Yikes!
Also to note, if you have been hiding under a rock, Javier Bardem won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Anton Chigurh. I haven’t seen any of the other nominated performances, but I feel that nomination was at least deserved. Bardem brought a very eerie calm to the character that made his nature even more unsettling. And I think he did a good job in hiding his accent, though the roughness of his voice and inflections added to the character’s mystique. Speaking of accents, I can’t help but give a nod of appreciation to Scottish actress Kelly MacDonald for her great job with what sounded like a genuine Texas accent. Along with Bardem’s Best Supporting Actor win, the movie scored victories for Best Picture, Best Screenplay, and the Coen brothers won for Best Director. Very impressive you have to say.
Even though I haven’t read the book, I am familiar with McCarthy’s style, and think that the sparseness of it and lack of dialog was well done. It concentrated on the feeling of the scenes. The intensity of emotions of what the characters are dealing with. And though that’s a good thing, I still expected something a bit grander. More of an epic. Maybe that’s hype working it’s ugly way into it.
That’s not to say that I didn’t like the movie. I knew it was going to be violent, so that didn’t bother me. The way it was captured, and at times either hidden from full view, or just implied, worked very well. It shielded it from the viewer, making sure it didn’t become gratuitous. And since most of it surrounds Chigurh it didn’t seem out of place. I just expected more struggle, especially with Sheriff Bell.
Other then Bardem’s award winning performance, I was impressed with Woody Harrelson the most. Brolin and Jones also turned in great performances, but Harrelson surprised me. He added a cold humor to it, but with a level-headedness, as well as a realistic hard edge. I have read the Coen brothers kept strict to the book, only deleting things that wouldn’t work on the big screen or without making it into a much longer film (except for the scene between Carla Jean and Chigurh), which is good. But I wouldn’t have minded seeing Harrelson’s character more.
Overall, it’s a very interesting movie. Violent, but interesting. Sparse, but well put together given the nature. Not for the faint of heart though.
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