Acting, Writing, and Directing Propel No Country into Oscar Contention

In the opening moments of No Country for Old Men, Ed Tom Bell, a jaded sheriff played by Tommy Lee Jones, describes his encounter with a young man sentenced to death. He speaks off-camera, so that his words can linger in the minds of viewers. Jones ends the well-delivered and richly-imagined monologue saying, "This ain't no country for old men." No Country for Old Men is a rousing return to form for enigmatic directors Joel and Ethan Cohen, who have been lauded for their ability to instill humor into the darkest of tales. Faithfully adapted from Cormac McCarthy’s western novel, the film tells the tale of Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), a hunter who discovers a trail of dead bodies and a briefcase filled with $2 million of drug money. Anton Chigurh, a quiet hitman sporting a Prince Valiant haircut, uses a tracking device attached to the inside of the briefcase to pursue Moss and the money he has been hired to retrieve. Ed Tom Bell is mystified by the violent events that ensue after Moss finds the money and flees his hometown. Things become more complicated when the powerful businessman who hires Chigurh enlists the services of a cocky bounty hunter (Woody Harrelson) to find the money in case Chigurh can't be trusted to return it.

No Country for Old Men is far and away the best film the Cohen brothers have written and directed since Fargo, their Oscar-nominated work from 1996. While No Country for Old Men is not quite as brilliant as that earlier film, their work here is remarkable in its own right. Like Fargo and their earlier masterpiece, Blood Simple, the film is centered around a crime that is followed by events that are dark, sad, and at times strangely comic.

The film showcases three great performances by Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, and Tommy Lee Jones, who portray characters whose morals and outlook on life could not be any more different. Moss, a tough strapped-for-cash Vietnam veteran, lives a simple life with a simple wife in a trailer in the middle of the desert. Bell is a man bewildered by the violence that disrupts the simplicity that has defined his town for years. And Anton is a memorable villain who lugs an oxygen tank around town and presses it against the foreheads of several innocent townspeople to dispense blows into his victims' heads that are no less deadly than gunshots to their heads. Chiguhr is adept at shooting a cattle gun, treating his own gunshot wounds, and making nearly every person he meets flip a coin to determine their fate. Anton, wonderfully played by a cast-against-type Jarvier Bardem, is an individual of otherworldly evil and menace.

Perhaps one of the most admirable things about No Country for Old Men is the way in which it presents characters who say and do things that intelligent audiences believe they would say and do. And much of the film’s humor rests in this truth. Set in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the story takes place during a time when most Americans had already begun to lose trust in many of the institutions on which the country was founded: the government, business, the law, and the military. Yet the residents of the small Texas towns featured in the film carry themselves without guile in a world where the human condition is deteriorating and where there are fewer and fewer good men. The Cohen brothers have some fun incorporating some of the quirks of the Texas townspeople, admiring their goodness, and subtly offering some commentary on the loss of such goodness and innocence in humanity.

No Country for Old Men will likely emerge as an Oscar contender in a not-so-great year for movies. The film benefits from the talents of cinematographer Roger Deakins, who paints a desolate Texas landscape as a backdrop for this tale of murder, betrayal, and evil; excellent supporting performances; and smart writing throughout. Defying convention, the film has an ambiguous ending, and there are two questions about plot points that may leave most viewers either buying the book or placing early orders for the DVD. Although there is a strong thriller component to the film, it effectively uses its characters and the dire circumstances they face to offer a compelling commentary on the power of evil, its disruption to the simplicity of life, and its ultimate devastation to the human condition.

Grade: A-

Violence, Profanity