No Country For Old Men

UK Release Date. 18 January 2008
Certification. 15

Running Time. 2 hours 2 mins

Director. Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Cast. Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee Jones, Kelly Macdonald.

Rating. 94%

Review.

In a year that saw the release of American Gangster, Atonement, The Diving Bell And The Butterfly, Into The Wild, Juno, The Kite Runner and There Will Be Blood, No Country For Old Men was deservedly awarded the 2008 Academy Award for Best Motion Picture. Ethan Coen and Joel Coen picked up the award for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. An impressive achievement considering No Country For Old Men was the first time the Coen brothers had adapted a screenplay (on this occasion from a Cormac McCarthy novel).

The film opens in a barren expanse of west Texas prairie, somewhere near the Rio Grande. The gentle whispering prairie wind carries the scent of lantana and verbena and the background buzz of bluebottles and blowflies. The cinematography, from long-term Coen brothers collaborator, Roger Deakins is quite simply sublime. 

On the surface, No Country For Old Men might appear a simple crime story, told from the perspectives of three main characters - Llewelyn Moss, Anton Chigurh and Sheriff Ed Tom Bell - with the narrative continually shifting whenever one of the leads takes centre stage. 

Josh Brolin steadfastly epitomises the morally-challenged everyman, Llewelyn Moss who stumbles upon a drug deal gone wrong in the opening scene.

He is relentlessly pursued by the menacing and malevolent Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), wielding a captive bolt pistol (a weapon routinely used to stun cows before slaughter). Bardem's chilling portrayal of the implacable sociopath garnered another Academy Award for the film, this time for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. 

Finally, a laconic Tommy Lee Jones plays the weathered and weary, near-retirement sheriff unable to comprehend the violence encountered in the world before him. Jones' character brings a solemn grace to the storyline as he explores a fear of becoming obsolete.

The Coen brothers ensure that the three main characters seldom share any screen time together and only Kelly Macdonald's character, Carla Jean speaks with all three characters. A masterstroke that only heightens the tension in No Country For Old Men.

Evolving from a lineage containing Blood Simple, Miller's Crossing and Fargo, No Country For Old Men demonstrates a level of maturity and is an accomplished piece of work. Certainly one of the Coen brothers finest films.