No Country for Old Men (DVD, 2008)

I've always been a fan of the Coen brothers, but that has nothing to do with how I feel about the movie. I will say that this is the best movie (next to Fargo) they've made. I wanted to see No Country For Old Men because, like you, I was wondering what the big deal was. I hate hype, and I'm not a fan of Westerns. First, let me say that the plot is excellent - near flawless. Quick summary: A man out hunting comes across the crime scene of a drug deal gone wrong, finds two million dollars, decides to keep it, and an unstoppable assassin is hired to track him down and get the money back. It's a bit more complex, but that's all I'll give away. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen the entire time I watched it. This film makes you nervous and anxious from beginning to end. To top it off, one of the scariest villains ever! I won't explain too much but I will say the 'bad guy' is overly intriguing. Every time he was in a scene I was biting my nails! Tommy Lee Jones was perfect, along with the rest of the cast. Wonderful cinematography!!! The entire movie is a thrilling cat and mouse chase, a story of coincidence and chance, and a portrayal of the good, the bad, and the in between. It's a great DVD to own because you'll want to watch it over and over again (like I did)! It's about as good as movies get.

The story of a drug deal gone wrong - with Tommy Lee Jones as a Texas sheriff
that begins a hunt for a deranged killer that is looking for the 2 million
dollars that vanishes from the deal. Josh Brolin plays a great part as the
killer that wipes out just about everything that moves - if it appeals to him
(and it usually does) if a coin flip goes (to kill or not to kill) against
the other person, or if he promises he is going to kill someone-he finds a way
to do it. Playing the pycopathic part - Brolin is excellent. This is a dark
moody movie and not recommended for anyone but adults truly- and even the adults will have a hard time figureing out the ending of the movie. Nominated
for about 8 acadamy awards-and winner of a couple-but probably deserved more.

The Coen brothers made their mark on Independent Film with their stark and razor-sharp contrast of criminal desperation and indifference to the simple, lawful and uncomplicated lives of normal folk in the award-winning 1996 "Fargo."

In "No Country For Old Men", the Coens have duplicated the character-driven narrative of "Fargo", but, this time, to a level more laden with violence and less focused on the good ordinarily found in most human hearts. The ensemble cast pulls off a nearly-impossible feat: All are flawed, yet each is someone - anyone - with whom a viewer may identify:

With one neatly-packaged, superbly acted exception: Javier Bardem's Oscar-winning performance as a man completely devoid of conscience or regret, compassion or reason. He is the compleat evil we all hope who never appears in our path, nor in our dreams.

The film will haunt you, disturb you, and in the end, perhaps disappoint you; but it will never be a filmatic experience you are likely to forget.

J. B. Guillory

Tommy Lee Jones does it again,good charactor.This movie does not have the typical ending. A believable plot that does not slow down,sometimes the bad guys win.

That's certainly not to say, of course, that the decision to avoid expressionistic cinematography or quick-cut editing doesn't constitute a style of its own, merely that a less ostentatious approach sometimes proves equally effective. And the Coen brothers, themselves acclaimed purveyors of directorial flourish, have elected in an era of overwhelming style to adopt a "less is more" technique for their latest film. No Country for Old Men, their latest, surely ranks among the best films of the year, as much for the decision to stay true to Cormac McCarthy's dusty, barren landscapes (both visual and emotional) as the fact that its outward simplicity belies a complex and deeply resonant tale of humanity coming to terms with its past, present and future.

This is a typical Coen Brothers movie with quirky, dark humor, odd disjointed dialogue and seemingly unconnected scenes. The basic plot is straightforward. Good guy cowboy, Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) comes upon a drug deal gone bad. All participants are dead so Moss helps himself to several million dollars in drug money. When he stupidly returns to the scene to give water to the only surviving drug dealer he is identified by the drug lords and targeted by their psychopathic hit man, Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem). Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) runs a bit of a parallel course to Brolin, seeming to know all about the drug lords and Chigurh, but never quite catching up with Moss. The rest is a cat and mouse between Moss and Chigurh as Moss desperately tries to keep the money, returning to his wife, Carla Jean (Kelly MacDonald) and start a new life. Woody Harrelson plays a neat bit part as a hitman hunter. But it is ultimately Bardem who totally steals this one as the coin-flipping, monotone hitman with an odd code of honor. The problem with Coen brothers films is that they ask the viewer to be satisfied with an equally disjointed ending. Major characters and events are left unresolved or at least to the viewer's imagination. Without ruining the plot, what happens to Carla Jean? Does Bardem recover the money? Can you explain the scene in which Ed Tom seems about to encounter Chigurh?

Well photographed with an untraditional ending..somewhat scary to think that there are people like these walking the street. Some parts are improbable but, this is a movie, not a documentary.

This is a confused and bloody exercise in wasting film; it has no plot. It is a waste of time watching it and a waste of electricity. To be “catchy”, they came up with the ridiculous idea of using an air gun to kill people--who patiently stand there and let the killer do his thing.

A different thriller. The killer looked more like Willy Wonka than a psycopath, but brutal none the less. Tommy Lee Jones is always great. Enjoyed very much.

Delicately unfolded like turning the pages of an old crime thriller. No time is wasted introducing the characters or background on locations, you're simply following a very silent, very intricate masterpiece and know within the first twenty minutes this tale will have no business of anything regrettably stupid or silly. Little-known Javier Bardem executed one of the best performances of a murderer I've ever seen.

I really enjoyed this movie, enough to add it to my collection of mostly drama movies, where it will sit alongside Gandhi and 12 Angry Men.
The characters are well drawn out and follow each of their paths as though they are driven to extremity. A Vietnam Vet living in squalor and Mexican drug-cartel assassin parody each other "for the loot", but the issues run deeper. A small town Sheriff knows what's up and weights pending retirement vs a last glorious run in the whole mess with all the danger you can imagine.
The body count is high and victims, guilty or otherwise, all have something or nothing to say before they go. A nihilistic classic in the making!

This was a HUGH disappointment!!! I am a Tommy Lee Fan and think he should have removed himself from the whole thing!!! Has to be one of the dumbest flicks I have seen in a long time.. The movie gets you going then just flops.. Waste of time and money in my book!!!

No Country for Old Men is as exceptional a mix of two creative talents- the Coen brothers, Joel and Ethan Coen, and author Cormac McCarthy (recent winner of the Pulitzer for The Road, his own masterpiece) as one could imagine, as they converge on a story that in lessor hands would be just a B movie. The story concerns an average Joe out hunting one day in Texas who comes across a bunch of dead bodies, heroin, and a satchel with 2 million in cash. He takes it, but without knowing that a true embodiment of a psychopath (Javier Bardem) is on his trail, and as he evades him it becomes more and more clear the fatalism that lies in store, as a weathered sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones) is also on the trail with perpetulally sad eyes looking on from his stolid demeanor.

More than this, it's also about as good a morality play as one could ask for, because it plays and tools and makes very serious questions about what is moral, or what isn't, or what is so ambiguous that it's all up to the toss of a coin or a chance ride out of town. There are a few interpretations to Bardem's character Anton that could be taken, but one thing is certain- he's less a symbol than a real presence, a "ghost" as Jones's sheriff calls him that can come around at the drop of a pin, usually in the dark, and strike the utmost fear (or confusion if you're a clerk) in the hearts of men and women. You'll never look at a coin toss the same way again. Or an air-gun. Or fixing a bullet wound in a leg. Or a hunt at a motel. Or even the aftermath of a car crash.

But at the same time it's the purest time of cinema, recalling Hitchcock and Leone and Welles's Touch of Evil and the best of noir and westerns. There are so many exceptional shots and lighting, so much depth to the perception of the characters through the mis-en-scene, so much tension, that through this it's all up to the actors to make or break the near-perfection that is the McCarthy source. Bardem embodies Anton like no other could- you can't look at his eyes, often steel-cold and horrifically professional (to what professional who can say), which occasional tear- and it's obviously worthy of an Oscar. And Josh Brolin and Tommy Lee Jones are also fantastic; we see Brolin often in the midst of an action scene, a moment of 'save-your-life' going on, and one can finally see an actor of his caliber completely breaking out in a role that doesn't require him to ever totally "emote". Jones, on the other hand, gives a compassionate turn in a film that's about the struggles of desperate men in a land without law and order. He's gone through so much that it comes out completely in his voice and eyes, sorrowful but holding back, and he reaches a level of connection with the character that makes the Fugitive look like simpleton TV. Kelly McDonald, who plays Lleland's wife, is also excellent when called upon, especially in a crucial scene later in the film.

It's gut-wrenching, bleak, violent, super-tense (I clenched many a knuckle during some scenes), surprisingly funny in a darkly comic manner not seen by the Coens in many years, and artistically fashioned to a beat that is meditative (watch the opening moments with Jones's voice-over), simple, and doomed. It's beautiful and terribly tragic, for McCarthy fans it finally strikes at what is truest to his material- even if you haven't read the book itself the Road will give an indication of the mood and atmosphere at hand- and at the moment I can't think of any other film that would b

I bought this DVD because from what I read, it was very interesting and kept you on the edge of your seat during the whole movie, which it did until the end when I fell off of my seat. I just couldn't believe the ending. Am I sorry I bought it, sort of, would I recommend it, yes if you like a huge let down. My advice... rent before you buy.

I bought this dvd because it won awards and was a largely top rated movie from the critics. It has a lot of action and plenty of gore and violence. It has some slow parts too-usually with Tommy Lee Jones, but his performance was excellent too. It moved along very well and had a few parts that make you laugh. It was filmed in such a way that it wasn't like other films of it's genre and had many interesting shots and angles. The Coen brothers are usually good like that. I like many others didn't like how it ended, but overall it was a good flick. B+ or A-

Liked The Movie except for the ending. jewel case arrived broken. Extremely violent at times but generally Very Good Thriller. ok ok ok ok ok ok ok

each year I always buy the oscar winning best picture and hadnt seen this one in theaters so thought i would give it a try. decent film, but not Oscar worthy, but then again, i dont really know what was this year.

This movie is great in every respect. Storytelling, cinematography, characters, sound, costume, building up suspense like a can of Reddi Whip. I watched this movie twice, and I think only the second time around was I able to confirm some of my theories regarding the movie. Its one of those movies that really gets in your head long after the credits are done rolling. At the end of the movie, you are left wondering who was the real protagonist of this story, if there was any at all. Like that narrator says near the end of the film, we each like to believe we are the main character of God's created story- when in truth, we have no effect- through good or evil, on the greater picture- it doesn't get worse or better, it just goes on as it always does...so then what, in effect, is the purpose of our existence? And the wonderful irony of the two characters caught in similar situations- one in the middle of the movie, one near the end. Its those little things like that which make this movie a good one to own, because each time you watch it, you hear things, and interpret things a little bit clearer.

And all the characters are memorable and so unique from each other. You will never see a page-boy hair cut the same after this movie!

I actually first saw this film at a festival about a year ago and have been obsessed with it ever since. I celebrate the Coen Brothers entire catalog, but they truly outdid themselves with this picture. If Javier Bardem doesn't make the hairs on the back of your neck stand straight up the ENTIRE movie, you're not human. Not only the best movie of 2007, but the best film I've seen in years.

I have been a fan of the Coen brothers since Blood Simple and have liked everything they've done. Some of their movies are, to my mind, among the best ever done (Miller's Crossing, O Brother Where Art Thou, e.g.) This film is troubling but I would have to place it very high. It portrays a world in which evil can win (if you like happy endings, you ain't gonna find one here--unless you're morally twisted)but in many respects I can see this playing out in the world we live in, given all that's going on, politically, business-wise etc. The performances are strong--Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Kelly MacDonald, and, of course, Tommy Lee Jones, who never seems to miss. People criticize it because of the violence but mostly these are people, I have noticed, who haven't seen it. Besides, the violence drives home the point and I thought that aspect of it was handled very well. This a troubling film but well worth seeing. I watched it three times in a week and was drawn in every time.

If you like nice, neat, unambiguous endings, where everything turns out the way you want and expect, this one is NOT for you. If you like films that have the power to hold you completely in their grip throughout, with great acting, a great screenplay, crisp editing (both video and sound), and great cinematography, then this is the film for you. This was one of those films that "affected" me for weeks after seeing it the first time. One of the best from the Coen brothers cannon of great films (Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, Oh Brother.., etc.). Buy it, watch it, enjoy it!

Have not received it yet,and thats very BAD ......!!!!!!!!
I write email to comicbooks2007,byt no reply yet.
Thanks.

Jahn

Not the movie they say it is. I liked it well enough but it's nothing like the hype it's getting and certainly not best picture.