The moment that Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) stumbles across the bloody scene of a heroin deal gone bad, his decision to take the two million dollars of drug money places not only himself in danger, but the lives of his family and any one standing in the way of the money’s rightful owner - a vengeful man by the name of Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem.)

CRITIQUE

Part crime drama, part western, part horror film, No Country for Old Men is a powerhouse of a film.  It has won Oscars for Best Adapted Screenplay (adapted by the Coens;) Best Supporting Actor (for Javier Bardem, who is absolutely phenomenal in this film;) Best Director; and Best Film of 2008.  It is a film that, when the classics of American cinema are discussed, has a good shot of being mentioned in the same sentence as other masterpieces like Citizen Kane or The Godfather.  Simply put, No Country for Old Men is a powerful look at how the world changes and how one must find a way to either adapt or step aside and let the world pass.

For Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones,) the world is starting to pass him by.  He has been a Sheriff in West Texas for many years and his retirement is fast approaching.  However, before he can retire in peace, his (somewhat) quiet little corner of the world has now become the setting of a horrible bloodbath.  A heroin deal has gone badly, leaving a bloody crime scene in its wake.  And not only has this deal attracted criminals of a sort that Sheriff Bell has never dealt with before, the money that these criminals are after has fallen into the hands of Llewelyn Moss, who is trying to find a way to make a clean getaway with the money.  What neither of these two realize is that one of the men who has come to claim the money, Anton Chigurh, is a completely remorseless man who will stop at nothing to reclaim the money, even if it means killing anyone (and I do mean anyone) who gets between him and his money.

Well, to call Chigurh a remorseless psychopath, I don’t mean this in the typical “oh, he’s just really, really crazy” like you would see in most action films.  Far from it.  Chigurh is pure evil.  Now, when I say this, I realize that the term “pure evil” is used far too much to describe just about any film psychopath or slasher icon.  But those characters are monsters, or simply just psychotic.  Chigurh is not just a simple psychopath, he is a man who kills because he can, not because it’s his primary driving force or that he even wants to.  He just does. And this is something that Bell cannot understand and cannot find a simple way to stop.

Upon first viewing No Country for Old Men, I was blown away.  It’s a great example as to why I love the Coen Brothers as filmmakers.  The film has an amazing script, strong acting, and is beautifully constructed in every way.  I have a hard time finding something not to like in their films.  However, one thing was brought to my attention by a friend of mine – he noticed that the film had no score.  So, I took a second look at the film (God bless DVD) and sure enough, while there was a score (an amazing subtle bit of underscore by Cater Burwell) it was so sparse and meshed with the scenes so perfectly, that you could hardly tell it was there.  The images on the screen and the sound work were what drove the film forward, rather than the constant bombardment of score and licensed music found in most other films.

No Country for Old Men is one of the best films I’ve ever seen.  It is a film that is actually about something, rather than just being just another bit of escapist fiction.  And while there’s nothing from with escapist fiction (I love my fair share of it,) it is nice to get a solid film that has true substance every now and then.

THE VIDEO

No Country is presented in 2.35:1 Widescreen and looks absolutely perfect.  The rough and gritty world of the film is clean and crisp.  There are no flaws in the image at any point and the colors are consistent throughout as are the black levels.

THE AUDIO

The film is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround and sounds perfect.  Because the film relies on the sound mix so strongly, a weak mix would have destroyed this film.  Thankfully, this is not the case and your surround sound will thank for watching this film.

THE EXTRAS

The Making of No Country for Old Men: A nice little making of that packs a lot of information about the film, featuring interviews with both the cast and the crew.

Working with the Coens: A fluff featurette with the cast and crew gushing with praise for the Coens.

Diary of a County Sheriff: A good featurette that looks at the world that the novel and the film existed in during the 1980s.

FINAL THOUGHTS