G's Movie Spot
"No Country for Old Men"

Every so often a film comes along that so completely pulls you into its world, with fascinating characters, a well-executed plot and real dramatic tension, that you are honestly hoping the movie never ends. You know the feeling when you're watching it, the experience that transcends mere movie going. You consider yourself lucky to be a part of it. "The Godfather" is one of those movies. "Goodfellas" is one of those movies. "Pulp Fiction" is one of those movies. "No Country for Old Men" is one of those movies.

Directed by the Coen brothers, "No Country" is an adaptation of the 2005 novel by Cormac McCarthy. The story revolves around a drug deal gone bad in a Texas border town, its rugged and desolate yet also gorgeous terrain shot beautifully by cinematographer Roger Deakins. We are introduced to Vietnam vet Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) who, while out hunting, comes upon the aftermath of some drug dealer mayhem in the desert, finds $2 million in a suitcase and makes the fateful decision to take the money. There is also the cold-blooded hit man Anton Chigurh, played with chilling menace by Javier Bardem, who is trying to retrieve said money. Finally, there is Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, played by Tommy Lee Jones, desperately trying to prevent Chigurh from causing further carnage. Though the setup may sound conventional on paper, it would be the understatement of the year to say it is much more than this in the execution. The movie is a character study in evil, fully embodied in the Chigurh character. This intention and the overall tone of the film is established in the opening sequence, as Bell recalls the words of a young man he put away for murdering his 14 year-old girlfriend: "The papers described it as a crime of passion, Bell says, "but he tolt me there weren't nothin' passionate about it. Said he'd been fixin' to kill someone for as long as he could remember. Said if I let him out of there, he'd kill somebody again. Said he was goin' to hell. Reckoned he'd be there in about 15 minutes."

Chigurh travels the highways and small towns of Texas with a sense of dread hanging over him at all times and a smile on his face that scares the crap out of you. His weapons of choice include a tank of compressed air with a cattle stungun attached to it as well as a shotgun with a silencer, and he is not hesitant to use them. He is merciless and brutal in his efficiency as he wipes out everyone that comes between him and the money, sometimes cruely leaving a potential victim's fate to the mere toss of a coin. In one brilliant scene in a road side gas station, Chigurh engages in some word play with the owner of the station before taking out a coin and telling the owner to "Call it." There is so much tension here that you can hardly breathe, and as Chigurh doggedly pursues Moss from hotel to hotel the Coen's brilliant use of silence and hushed tones only increases the tension level. Coming into this movie I would say that I was cautiously optimistic, as I had heard good things about it and read great reviews. However, this was tempered by the fact that I have been kind of hit or miss when it comes to the Coen brothers' body of work. There have been movies I have really liked, such as "Raising Arizona" and "Fargo" and ones that I have not cared for as much such as "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" and "The Hudsucker Proxy" and everything in between. My biggest criticism of the Coens is their tendency to be a bit too clever at times and overly obsessed with little details and obscure references, as if the film is meant to be on display in a museum. To, as "Entertainment Weekly" critic Lisa Schwarzbaum put it in her A-review of the film, "rely on snark as a backup source of energy."

"No Country" definitely falls into the "hit" category of the Coen brothers films that I have seen, and is certainly their best work since "Fargo." This is virtuoso stuff, great writing and storytelling that is wonderfully shot and acted. It is one of those movies that stays with you long after you leave the theater, as much for the effect it has on you and the moral questions it raises as for the intricacies of the plot (and there are many). In short, it is the best movie I have seen this year.