No Country For Old Men
(dir. Ethan & Joel Coen)
Paramount Vantage
From their debut with Blood Simple in 1984 through to bowling classic The Big Lebowski in 1998, the Coen brothers went on a pretty much unrivalled 7 film run of non-duds. Sadly they followed this with a sequence of four films that fell far below The Dude inspired peak - from Lebowski follow up O’Brother Where Art Thou? in 2000 to the universally panned Ladykillers in 2004. After that they went on a bit of a hiatus, resurfacing briefly to contribute to Paris J’Taime - a collection of short films about a French city.
Now they are back and in some style with No Country for Old Men. Taken from the novel by Cormac McCarthy, ...Old Men opens with generally decent man of few words Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) hunting deer on the plains. Through the telescopic sight of his rifle he spies a bunch of pickup trucks and corpses, which, on closer inspection proves to be the endgame of a drug deal gone badly wrong. With a big briefcase full of money laying there without any obvious (living) owner, Moss the opportunist grabs the loot, believing he and his sweetheart back at the trailer park (Kelly Macdonald) have just stumbled upon a life changing slice of fortune.
Which is true, but not as he thinks. You see that money belongs to somebody and soon Llewelyn realises he’s got a serious problem, in the form of weird assasin Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), on his tail. As the tagline says “There are no clean getaways”. Throw reluctant Sherrif Tommy Lee Jones and a bunch of angry Mexicans into the mix and a bloody game of cat and mouse across the southern states and into Mexico ensues.
Whilst there are a few obvious ‘Coen Brother’ touches where they find humour in some of the darkest places (Chigurh’s haircut for example), they generally play it straight - allowing the story, scenery and performances to drive the film leisurely but efficiently over its two hour duration. In this respect it resembles the excellent The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, the Tommy Lee Jones directed revenge film from a couple of years back. Like that film, the Texan born Lee Jones once again proves himself to be a master of the actions-speak-louder-than-words old school character of the South. But it’s Spanish actor Bardem (along with his hair and possibly the biggest gun-silencer in movie history) that really steals the film, as he menacingly takes no prisoners on his pursuit of Moss and the cash.
Rightly cleaning up plaudits all over the place, No Country for Old Men is a mighty return to form for the Coen brothers. Amen to that.
Links
Tags
15th Feb 2008 - Tumblr
4News
Reviews
Articles
Surveillance
Related
Soul
Another touching Pixar tale from Pete Docter. Stylish and inspiring.
29th Dec 2020
Read more 4 star reviewsSearch
The Christmas Chronicles
Perfect Christmas movie that sails close to the wind of parody without getting swept away.
26th Dec 2020
Read more 4 star reviewsBack to the Future III
Stirring, straight shooting, well rounded finale to a classic trilogy.
13th Dec 2020
Read more 4.5 star reviewsBack to the Future II
Note perfect, brisk, entertainingly convoluted classic.
13th Dec 2020
Read more 5 star reviewsBack to the Future
Genre defining 80s classic that still hits all the right notes.
13th Dec 2020
Read more 5 star reviewsOn the Rocks
Unsurprisingly slight, but the one thread of plot is held together by an enjoyable Bill Murray.
21st Nov 2020
Read more 3.5 star reviewsRichard Jewell
Incredibly straightforward Clint drama, anchored by some great central performances.
10th Nov 2020
Read more 3.5 star reviewsThe Witches
Not exactly imaginative re-imagining, but it gets the job done in the right spirit.
1st Nov 2020
Read more 3 star reviews1917
Ambitious, stagey epic. Plenty of tropes and it falls in all the usual 1-take potholes.
27th Oct 2020
Read more 3 star reviewsA Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood
Thoughtful, stylish drama with a zen central performance.
17th Oct 2020
Read more 4 star reviewsWho Framed Roger Rabbit
Stiff, poorly paced innovative film that hasn’t aged well.
11th Oct 2020
Read more 3 star reviewsOnward
Inspiring, tightly scripted gem - overlooked by lockdown.
4th Oct 2020
Read more 4 star reviewsThe Informer
Standard-issue airplane movie, with Joel Kinnaman standing in for Vin Diesel.
3rd Oct 2020
Read more 3 star reviewsMotherless Brooklyn
Sub LA Confidential gumshoe thriller - with an underplayed USP. Ed Norton misses again.
27th Sep 2020
Read more 3 star reviewsGlass
Over explained threequel, that undermines a low key original.
18th Sep 2020
Read more 2.5 star reviewsSnowpiercer
Intriguing, but generally incomprehensible sci-fi gobbledegook.
31st Aug 2020
Read more 3 star reviewsJumani
The Next Level
Marginally less fun sequel, but still plenty of laughs.
16th Aug 2020
Read more 3 star reviewsThe Deer Hunter
Beautifully imagined and lovingly restored, but it still alternates between a snail's pace and feeling like a trailer edit.
12th Aug 2020
Read more 4 star reviews21 Bridges
Surprisingly enjoyable plane movie, though it owes a lot to the magnificent Copland.
8th Aug 2020
Read more 3 star reviewsAd Astra
Incredibly stylish and wannabe cerebral sci-fi, that’s ultimately a little thin.
19th Jul 2020
Read more 3.5 star reviewsFirst Man
Underwhelming space drama that’s a bit too intimate and not very epic.
5th Jul 2020
Read more 3.5 star reviewsBlue Story
Dire, tension-free postcode gang drama. Just add drama.
21st Jun 2020
Read more 1 star reviewsApollo 11
Magnificent documentary, re-assembling the moon landing from beautifully remastered footage.
14th Jun 2020
Read more 4 star reviewsOnce Upon A Time In Hollywood
The 8th slow-paced Tarantino pic. Literally half entertaining / boring.
24th May 2020
Read more 2.5 star reviewsYesterday
Entertaining Brit-com, though it’s a bit on-the-beaten-path for Danny Boyle.
13th Apr 2020
Read more 3 star reviewsJuliet, Naked
Mildly enjoyable, thoroughly forgettable Nick Hornby pic ...once you get past the contrived set up.
4th Apr 2020
Read more 3 star reviewsThe Lion King
Impeccably realised remake, but it’s emotionally flat.
15th Mar 2020
Read more 3 star reviewsGalveston
Standard festival thriller, with some style and decent moments - but it’s all a bit thin.
10th Mar 2020
Read more 3 star reviewsAlladin
Surprisingly enjoyable, Guy Ritchie-fied Disney remake.
10th Mar 2020
Read more 3.5 star reviewsMapplethorpe
Cookie cutter biography that could literally have been written from his Wikipedia page.
7th Mar 2020
Read more 1.5 star reviewsHorse Girl
Text book indie, literally days out of Sundance. Interesting until it gets a bit too wacky.
9th Feb 2020
Read more 3 star reviewsPhantom Thread
Considered character study that strays into pretentiousness here and there.
25th Jan 2020
Read more 3 star reviewsRocketman
Enthusiasticly directed sequence of unrelated musical set pieces.
31st Dec 2019
Read more 3 star reviewsAvengers
Endgame
Yet another biggest-battle-yet, with more than a passing nod to BTTF2.
30th Dec 2019
Read more 3 star reviewsMystify
Michael Hutchence
Thoughtfully assembled montage doc.
30th Dec 2019
Read more 3.5 star reviewsCaptain Marvel
Decent origin story, with charm and some 90s nostalgia.
27th Dec 2019
Read more 3 star reviewsStar Wars
The Rise of Skywalker
Freestyle bouillabaisse with all the ingredients, but no chef.
27th Dec 2019
Read more 3 star reviewsMarriage Story
Quintessential indie movie ...funded by Netflix. Great perfs, lovely camera work and solid direction.
22nd Dec 2019
Read more 4 star reviewsWidows
Superior modern thriller. Smart script and accomplished direction.
15th Dec 2019
Read more 4 star reviewsThe Irishman
Long, slow, thoroughly enjoyable loose jam through Scorsese/DeNiro/Pacino/Pesci/Keitel’s greatest hits.
2nd Dec 2019
Read more 4 star reviewsJoker
Batman via Scorsese, in impeccably art directed, neatly packaged origin story.
28th Nov 2019
Read more 4 star reviewsFrozen 2
Surprisingly strong sequel that gets going after a convoluted start.
24th Nov 2019
Read more 3 star reviewsThe Mule
Casual drama from Clint Eastwood, with the man himself anchoring things through a charming turn.
16th Nov 2019
Read more 3 star reviewsThe King
Luscious period drama. Beautifully put together - like Wolf Hall+.
3rd Nov 2019
Read more 3.5 star reviewsEl Camino
Throw away Breaking Bad expansion piece with little tension or jeopardy.
13th Oct 2019
Read more 2.5 star reviewsVice
Stylish but incoherent Cheney biopic, hampered by another one-note turn from Bale.
5th Oct 2019
Read more 3 star reviews