No Country for Old Men (film)
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| The film has been highly praised by critics. Roger Ebert called it "as good a film as the Coen brothers . . . have ever made." A ''[[Guardian (newspaper)|Guardian]]'' journalist said the film proved "that the Coens' technical abilities, and their feel for a landscape-based western classicism reminiscent of [[Anthony Mann]] and [[Sam Peckinpah]], are matched by few living directors." | The film has been highly praised by critics. Roger Ebert called it "as good a film as the Coen brothers . . . have ever made." A ''[[Guardian (newspaper)|Guardian]]'' journalist said the film proved "that the Coens' technical abilities, and their feel for a landscape-based western classicism reminiscent of [[Anthony Mann]] and [[Sam Peckinpah]], are matched by few living directors." | ||
| + | ==Plot== | ||
| + | West Texas in June 1980 is desolate, wide open country, and Ed Tom Bell ([[Tommy Lee Jones]]) laments the increasing violence in a region where he, like his father and grandfather before him, has risen to the office of sheriff. | ||
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| + | Llewelyn Moss ([[Josh Brolin]]), hunting [[pronghorn]], comes across the aftermath of a [[Illegal drug trade|drug deal]] gone awry: several dead men and dogs, a wounded Mexican begging for water, and two million dollars in a satchel that he takes to his trailer home. Late that night, he returns with water for the dying man, but is chased away by two men in a truck and loses his vehicle. When he gets back home he grabs the cash, sends his wife Carla Jean ([[Kelly Macdonald]]) to her mother's, and makes his way to a motel in the next county where he hides the satchel in the air vent of his room. | ||
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| + | [[Anton Chigurh]] ([[Javier Bardem]]) is a [[hitman]] who has been hired to recover the money. He has already strangled a sheriff's deputy to escape custody and stolen a car by using a [[captive bolt pistol]] to kill the driver. Now he carries a receiver that traces the money via a [[tracking device]] concealed inside the satchel. Bursting into Moss' hideout at night, Chigurh surprises a group of Mexicans set to ambush Moss, and murders them all. Moss, who has rented the connecting room on the other side, is one step ahead. By the time Chigurh removes the vent cover with a dime, Moss is already back on the road with the cash. | ||
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| + | In a border town hotel, Moss finally finds the electronic bug, but not before Chigurh is upon him. A firefight between them spills onto the streets, leaving both men wounded. Moss flees across the [[Mexico – United States border|border]], collapsing from his injuries before he is taken to a Mexican hospital. There, Carson Wells ([[Woody Harrelson]]), another hired operative, offers protection in return for the money. | ||
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| + | After Chigurh cleans and stitches his own wounds with stolen supplies, he gets the drop on Wells back at his hotel and kills him just as Moss calls the room. Picking up the call and casually raising his feet to avoid the spreading blood, Chigurh promises Moss that Carla Jean will go untouched if he gives up the money. Moss remains defiant. | ||
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| + | Moss arranges to rendezvous with his wife at a motel in [[El Paso, Texas|El Paso]] to give her the money and send her out of harm's way. She reluctantly accepts Bell's offer to save her husband, but he arrives only in time to see a pickup carrying several men speeding away from the motel and Moss lying dead in his room. That night, Bell returns to the crime scene and finds the lock blown out in his suspect's familiar style. Chigurh hides behind the door of a motel room, observing the shifting light through an empty lock hole. His gun drawn, Bell enters Moss' room and notices that the vent cover has been removed with a dime and the vent is empty. | ||
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| + | Bell visits his Uncle Ellis ([[Barry Corbin]]), an ex-lawman. Bell plans to retire because he feels "overmatched," but Ellis points out that the region has always been violent. For Ellis, thinking it is "all waiting on you, that's vanity." | ||
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| + | Carla Jean returns from her mother's funeral to find Chigurh waiting in the bedroom. When she tells him she does not have the money, he recalls the pledge he made to her husband that could have spared her. The best he will offer is a coin toss for her life, but she says that the choice is his. Chigurh leaves the house alone and carefully checks the soles of his boots.<!-- Do not add any personal interpretation of what this may mean; that would be analysis (OR). --> As he drives away, he is injured in a car accident and abandons the damaged vehicle. | ||
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| + | Now retired, Bell shares two dreams with his wife ([[Tess Harper]]), both involving his deceased father. In the first dream he lost "some money" that his father had given him; in the second, he and his father were riding horses through a snowy mountain pass. His father, who was carrying fire in a horn, quietly passed by with his head down, "going on ahead, and fixin' to make a fire" in the surrounding dark and cold. Bell knew that when he got there his father would be waiting. | ||
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Revision as of 11:04, 5 May 2012
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No Country for Old Men is a critically acclaimed, award winning 2007 film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Cormac McCarthy. Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, the film features Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, and Javier Bardem. Faithfully adapted from the well-received novel, No Country for Old Men draws heavily on McCarthy's themes of chance and fate. It tells the story of a drug deal gone very wrong and the ensuing cat-and-mouse drama as three men crisscross each other's paths in the desert landscape of 1980 West Texas.
The film has been highly praised by critics. Roger Ebert called it "as good a film as the Coen brothers . . . have ever made." A Guardian journalist said the film proved "that the Coens' technical abilities, and their feel for a landscape-based western classicism reminiscent of Anthony Mann and Sam Peckinpah, are matched by few living directors."
Plot
West Texas in June 1980 is desolate, wide open country, and Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) laments the increasing violence in a region where he, like his father and grandfather before him, has risen to the office of sheriff.
Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), hunting pronghorn, comes across the aftermath of a drug deal gone awry: several dead men and dogs, a wounded Mexican begging for water, and two million dollars in a satchel that he takes to his trailer home. Late that night, he returns with water for the dying man, but is chased away by two men in a truck and loses his vehicle. When he gets back home he grabs the cash, sends his wife Carla Jean (Kelly Macdonald) to her mother's, and makes his way to a motel in the next county where he hides the satchel in the air vent of his room.
Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) is a hitman who has been hired to recover the money. He has already strangled a sheriff's deputy to escape custody and stolen a car by using a captive bolt pistol to kill the driver. Now he carries a receiver that traces the money via a tracking device concealed inside the satchel. Bursting into Moss' hideout at night, Chigurh surprises a group of Mexicans set to ambush Moss, and murders them all. Moss, who has rented the connecting room on the other side, is one step ahead. By the time Chigurh removes the vent cover with a dime, Moss is already back on the road with the cash.
In a border town hotel, Moss finally finds the electronic bug, but not before Chigurh is upon him. A firefight between them spills onto the streets, leaving both men wounded. Moss flees across the border, collapsing from his injuries before he is taken to a Mexican hospital. There, Carson Wells (Woody Harrelson), another hired operative, offers protection in return for the money.
After Chigurh cleans and stitches his own wounds with stolen supplies, he gets the drop on Wells back at his hotel and kills him just as Moss calls the room. Picking up the call and casually raising his feet to avoid the spreading blood, Chigurh promises Moss that Carla Jean will go untouched if he gives up the money. Moss remains defiant.
Moss arranges to rendezvous with his wife at a motel in El Paso to give her the money and send her out of harm's way. She reluctantly accepts Bell's offer to save her husband, but he arrives only in time to see a pickup carrying several men speeding away from the motel and Moss lying dead in his room. That night, Bell returns to the crime scene and finds the lock blown out in his suspect's familiar style. Chigurh hides behind the door of a motel room, observing the shifting light through an empty lock hole. His gun drawn, Bell enters Moss' room and notices that the vent cover has been removed with a dime and the vent is empty.
Bell visits his Uncle Ellis (Barry Corbin), an ex-lawman. Bell plans to retire because he feels "overmatched," but Ellis points out that the region has always been violent. For Ellis, thinking it is "all waiting on you, that's vanity."
Carla Jean returns from her mother's funeral to find Chigurh waiting in the bedroom. When she tells him she does not have the money, he recalls the pledge he made to her husband that could have spared her. The best he will offer is a coin toss for her life, but she says that the choice is his. Chigurh leaves the house alone and carefully checks the soles of his boots. As he drives away, he is injured in a car accident and abandons the damaged vehicle.
Now retired, Bell shares two dreams with his wife (Tess Harper), both involving his deceased father. In the first dream he lost "some money" that his father had given him; in the second, he and his father were riding horses through a snowy mountain pass. His father, who was carrying fire in a horn, quietly passed by with his head down, "going on ahead, and fixin' to make a fire" in the surrounding dark and cold. Bell knew that when he got there his father would be waiting.
