No Country for Old Men (2007)

Directed by: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | 122 minutes | drama, thriller, crime | Actors: 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 Sutherland, Kathy Lamkin, Johnnie Hector, Margaret Bowman, Thomas Kopache, Jason Douglas, Mathew Greer, Trent Moore, Luce Rains, Josh Meyer, Brandon Smith, Chris Warner, Roland Uribe

‘No Country for Old Men’ is the film adaptation of the book of the same name by American author Cormac McCarthy. The book is grey, exciting, cynical and comic at the same time and has a subtly poetic undertone. The book is by no means easy to bring to the silver screen, but the brothers Joel and Ethan Coen (here jointly responsible for directing) show with their film adaptation that it is indeed possible. And how. The film is set in the border country of the United States and Mexico where Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) encounters a number of pickup trucks in the deserted desert, surrounded by a couple of dead men. In one of the trucks there appears to be a huge load of drugs and a little further on he finds a suitcase with two million dollars. Moss does not intend to give up the money and runs off with the suitcase. He soon gets after him the psychopathic serial killer Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), who is somehow connected to the botched drug deal and determined to get the money back. Moss goes on the run and is chased not only by Chigurh, but also by the old Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), who desperately tries to combat the hardening and roughening in his environment.

As always with the Coen brothers, the different characters are a particularly important element in the film. Usually they have a fixed group of actors at their disposal for that. But neither George Clooney, nor John Turturro or John Goodman is seen here. Fortunately, the fresh collaboration with actors such as Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem and Woody Harrelson turns out to be a very fruitful one. Brolin, who previously appeared as a sick doctor in Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror and as a corrupt cop in American Gangster (not the most gentle characters anyway), convinces as the imperturbable and fearless Moss, qualities that make him the body seem to have been written. The Spanish Javier Bardem (with ‘Carné Tremula’ and ‘Mar Adentro’ to his name) is also well suited as the violent Chigurh. He evokes feelings of both fear and awe and his mysterious appearance, with the curious haircut, appeals strongly to the imagination.

In films by the Coen brothers, there is always a whole range of colorful characters. Also in ‘No Country for Old Men’. They are often eccentric figures, which at first sight, with their strongly characteristic display and immutability, may seem one-dimensional. Yet they are always people of flesh and blood who, despite their idiosyncrasies, carry something recognizable with them and thus almost without exception appear endearing. A figure like Llewelyn Moss also has a soft and sweet side, although it will be difficult to discern that side because of his sometimes numb appearance. His sincere relationship with Carla Jean (Kelly MacDonald) is therefore not apparent from affectionate words, but from a convincing relationship of mutual understanding and trust, which is portrayed in a very subtle way and which reveals itself almost unnoticed. Even if Carla Jean seems to be in danger because of Llewelyn’s risky adventures and he perseveres despite that, you know as a viewer that he does it all mainly for her. Old Sheriff Bell, with his calm demeanor and strong principles, also comes across as very moving. And his longing for earlier times takes on an all too understandable place in the violent environment.

The rich collection of different characters, all with their own worries, could lead to a whole that is difficult to untangle, but ‘No Country for Old Men’, on the other hand, is a carefully balanced film. All elements complement each other seamlessly and nowhere does one of them become too much. The violence of Chigurh, the musings of the deeply melancholy Bell, the imperturbable Moss, the love of his wife Carla Jean, the mature character of bounty hunter Carson Wells (Woody Harrelson) and then also the many other, telling figures are convincingly portrayed in a highly distinctive world. Moreover, that world is portrayed so beautifully by Roger Deakins (multiple Academy Award nominee and permanent man of the Coen brothers), that the environment itself can also be regarded as a player. The carefully composed shots of the sultry and dusty desert, the villages and the dark, deserted streets of the city – with a character that is both jovial and hard and sometimes even claustrophobic – create a strong atmosphere, which is unmistakably part of the story.

Joel and Ethan Coen deliver a particularly atmospheric, dark and disturbing thriller with ‘No Country for Old Men’. The clever combination of the rough landscape, the hard violence, the subtly dosed portion of humanity and a convincing sense of nostalgia, make you long for more and make you look back with almost nostalgia to the gray but deeply intriguing world of the Coens. If only these kind of movies last forever.