This is the Coen brothers latest opus based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy. While many viewers will see the rather simple story (brilliantly told) of a rancher who stumbles across dead bodies, a stash of heroin and $2 million dollars in the vast spaces of Texas, the beneath-the-surface stories woven amid this main theme make No Country for Old Men one of the greatest American films in some time. Violent, vastly strange, funny and oh-so-subtle in its messaging about America in her current state, the film is as close to an American masterpiece as you can get. The film stars Javier Bardem (as Anton Chigurh, the creepiest serial killer you'll meet in sometime), Woody Harrelson, Josh Brolin and Tommy Lee Jones, all perfectly cast; especially Bardem who should get an Oscar for his role. The Coen's editing and framing of each scene is, in a word, magnificent. In particular I was mesmerized by the scene at the motel in El Paso where Brolin chats to the sunbathing girl at the pool, and the encounter our villain Chigurh has with the gas station attendant near the beginning of the film. While many folks will see these two scenes as simple, and perhaps boring, they are two of the most perfect examples of perfect film-making in some time.
My rating 10 out of 10.
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