No Country For Old Men Review (Revisited) "Call it!"

OK, so this is yet another revisitational post of a film, which I did a re-write on a few years back and so I thought I would give it another lick of paint having watched the subject of it again quite recently. And the post in question is on the crime thriller, No Country For Old Men. So, I will expand on the sections a bit as usual and give them headings as the previous one did not have any.

So, after 13 years (yep its been that long!) how does NCFOM fair??? Well, let's find out...

And the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

STORY

So, the film is set out in Odessa Texas back in 1980, where a local hunts-man and former Nam veteran, Lewellyn Moss (Josh Brolin) hunting for deer out in the open country, stumbles across several dead men, who appeared to have been involved in a gunfight.  Moss while scouting the scene he finds an injured man in one of the trucks, who begs for water in a foreign tounge (turns out he's Mexican), but Moss says he has none and take the man's gun and ammo.  Looking in the back of the truck he sees there is a massive quantity of drugs, and Moss soon comes across another dead man, who lies next to a suitcase, which is filled with money. 

Moss takes the case back to his trailer, where his wife Carla Jean (Kelly MacDonald) asks where he has been.  Later that night Moss, out of guilt, decides to go back to the scene with water for the injured man in the truck, but when he get's there the man is nowhere to be seen, and all of a sudden a truck drives up, full of a gang of Mexicans, who bear down on Moss, who flees.  Moss barely escapes the Mexicans, and makes it back to his trailer, where he warns Carla to pack her bags and to stay with her mother, and Moss leaves with the suitcase of money and heads to a motel in the next county.

In the meantime, a hitman, Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), escapes police custody, by killing a police officer, and he later kills a driver, with a captive bolt pistol (used for killing cattle).  Chigurh makes his way out to the crime scene in the open country where the drug deal was, with the help of two associates, he finds a receiver, which he uses to track the suticase, Chigurh then kills the two men, and drives off, having found the licence plate of Moss's abandoned truck, he tracks down the location of Moss's trailer. 

Chigurh then uses the receiver to track the whereabouts of the case, while in the meantime, Moss staying a motel, hides the money in an air vent between two of the motel rooms.  Chigurh soon finds Moss's whereabouts with the receiver, and he ambushes the motel room, where he thinks Moss is staying, but finds three Mexicans instead, and he kills them all.  Moss having heard the commotion in the next room, escapes the scene with the money, and goes to another motel. 

Chigurh soon follows Moss again and finally locates him at another motel, where it soon dawns on Moss that the case must have a way of being tracked, he looks inside and finds a transponder, but before he can leave, Chigurh shoots at him, with Moss once again barely fleeing with his life, he runs out onto the streets, and Moss succeds in shooting Chigurh in the leg with his shotgun, but Chigurh manages to escape before Moss finds him.  Moss having been shot in the side, barely makes it across into the Mexican border, before he does, he tosses the suitcase over a fence into a field. 

Soon after this, the man who hired Chigurh, an associate of a firm (played by Stephen Root), hires another hitman, Carson Wells (Woody Harrelson), in order to try and recover the money, after realising Chigurh is a loose canon.  Wells manages to find Moss, who by now has been treated at a local hospital across the border, where Wells offers Moss protection in return for the money.  Wells however is soon intercepted by Chigurh who kills him, at this point Moss calls Well's hotel room, but Chigurh answers and offers to make a deal, in return if he gives him the money, he will let his wife go, but he can't save himself, however Moss turns him down. 

And from here the film leads towards a grim and dramatic climax as Moss's fate awaits him and Chigurh closes in on his objective of finding the money but not before he has a score to settle....  

THOUGHTS

I think its safe to say that No Country For Old Men is easily one of the Cohen Brothers finest films as it an intense, gripping experience right from the start.  Based on the novel written by Cormac McCarthy, the film itself has a different feel to any of their previous movies, and it feels like it is the perfect almalgamation of their talents, in both writing and direction.  The film has a tremendous sense of dread and foreboding about it, and in this world there are no happy endings, and it shows the west to be a cruel and unrelenting place.  Yet there is still the trademark humour the underlies most of the Cohen brothers films, with locals providing plenty of moments of amusement.  

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section will contain some spoilers!)

In terms of the performances, there is very little at fault here, as everyone is at the top of their game here. 

Josh Brolin for starters is excellent as Moss, who is basically just a normal guy, who is way out of his depth in the situation, but his former Vietnam veteran experience, just about keeps him alive long enough. 

Brolin has several highlights in the film such as the scene where he comes back home from his initial discovery of the Mexican shoot-out with the suitcase of money and wife, Carla Jean asks "What's in the satchel?" and he tells her "Full of money" and she says warily "That'll be the day!". Carla Jean then asks him about the gun "Where did you get that gun?" and he says to her "The getting place!". Moss then get's a beer and sits down next to Carla Jean, who sits watching TV and she asks him "What did you give for that thing?" and Moss tells her "You don't need to know everything" and she says "I need to know THAT!" and Moss opens his beer can and says "You keep running that mouth and I'll have to take you in the back and screw you!" and Carla Jean says "Big talk!" and Moss says "Keep it up!". So, Carla Jean grins and says "Fine! I don't wanna know. I don't even wanna know where you've been all day!" and Moss says to her "That'll work".

Then there is the scene where Moss prepares to leave their trailer with water for the dying Mexican and Carla Jean asks him "Where are you goin, baby?" and Moss tells her "Goin out. Something I forgot to do" and Carla Jean asks "What are you gonna do?" and Moss says "I'm fixing to do somethin dumber than hell but I'm goin anyways". So, before Moss leaves he says to Carla Jean "If I don't come back tell my mother I love her" and Carla Jean says "Your mother's dead Llewellyn" and Moss replies "In that case I'll tell her myself!".     

Also there is the scene where Moss recovers in hospital from his gunshot wound and Carson Wells visits him and tells him a little about Chigurh. 

So, in the scene the two of them talk and Carson tells Moss "Look, you need to give me the money. I've got no reason to protect you" and Moss tells him "Too late, I spent it, about a million and a half on whores and whiskey and the rest of it, I just sort of blew it away". And at the end of their chat, Carson stands up and says to Moss "I'm staying at the Hotel Eagle. Call me when you've had enough. Maybe I'll even let you keep a little of that money". Moss then asks Carson "If I was into cutting deals, why don't I just deal with this Chigurh?" but Carson tells Moss he can't deal with Chigurh as he would kill him instead and he is a man of "strange principles" and Moss says "Well he don't talk as much as you, I give him points for that!". 

Then there is the scene where Moss has discharged himself from hospital and he walks into the surplus store and the store salesman he spoke to earlier asks him "How are those boots holdin up?" and Moss replies "Oh good, but I need everything else though.  Lotta people come in here with no clothes on?" and the salesman says "No sir, its unusual!". 

And last of all is the scene where Moss chats with a woman outside by a hotel pool as she drinks some beer, she asks Moss to join her but he stays put with a smile on his face.

So, in the scene the woman says to Moss "I got beers in my room" and Moss shows his wedding ring to her and says "I'm waiting for my wife" and the woman says "Oh, that's who you keep looking out for" and Moss says "Half" and the woman asks "What else then?" and Moss says to her "Lookin for what's comin.." and the woman says "You but no one ever sees that!". So, as the woman offers Moss a beer he smiles and says "Ma'am, I know what beer leads to" and she says "Beer leads to more beer" and he smiles again. 

Tommy Lee Jones, is also great as ever, as the police sherrif, Ed Tom, whom he plays with a dry wit, and a morose sense of acceptance about the violence that plagues the region, and he get's some of the film's best dialogue.

And Tommy's best scenes include the one where Ed and his deputy travel out to the scene of the gunfight in the desert and his deputy says to him "Its a mess ain't it, sherrif?" and Ed Tom replies "Well if it ain't, it'll do until the mess get's here!". 

Then there is the scene where Ed Tom talks with Carla Jean and he tells her about a story of a man who had a slaughterhouse and used it to kill cattle and describes something similar to what Chigurh uses for his killings, a captive bolt pistol. 

So, in the scene as Ed tells Carla Jean about the story, she seems uninterested, so he instead gives her his card and says "When Llewellyn calls, just tell him I can make him safe...". So, after a beat Ed carries on with his story and says "Course, they slaughter beeves different now. Use a air gun. Shoots out a rod, about this far into the brain..sucks back in. Animal never knows what hit him". So, after another awkward pause, Carla Jean finally asks "Why are you telling me that, sheriff?" and Ed awkwardly says "I dunno...my mind wanders!". 

Another good scene is when Ed pays a visit to a former officer, Ellis who asks Ed about his decision to retire from his post as sherriff. So, Ellis asks Ed "Loretta (Ed's wife) says you're quittin. Why is that?" and Ed somberly after a beat says "I don't know. I feel overmatched. I always thought when I got older God would sort of come into my life in some way. He didn't. I don't blame him. If I was him I'd have the same opinion about me that he does".

Then there is the scene at the end of the film where Ed Tom tells his wife, Loretta about a dream he had about his father "And in the dream I knew he would be goin on ahead and he was fixin to make a fire somewhere out there in the dark and all that cold, and I knew that whenever I got there he would be there.  And then I woke up...".     

Woody Harrelson, although he has a shorter screen time than the others in the cast, is very good as Wells, the somewhat sarcastic hitman who tracks Chigurh's movements.

Woody has some good scenes also such as his first scene where he enters the office of the man who hired Chigurh (played by Stephen Root) .  And the man asks Carson of Chigurh "Just how dangerous is he?" and Carson replies "Compared to what?  The bubonic plauge?  He's bad enough you called me.  He's a vicious psychopahtic killer but there's plenty of them around".  And just before Carson leaves he asks the man "Oh could you validate my parking ticket?" and his remark is met with scorn by the man and Carson says "You know I counted the floors to this building from the street and there's one missing" and the man says sarcastically "We'll look into it!". 

And there is the scene where Carson visits Moss in hospital and he tells him about Chigurh briefly and he says "I would say he doesn't have a sense of humour.  You can't make a deal with him.  Even if you gave him the money he'd still kill you.  He's a peculiar man.  You could even say that he has principles that transcend money or drugs or anything life that". 

And in his last scene where Carson finally meets with Chigurh in his hotel room and Chigurh is set on killing him. So, in the scene Carson pleads calmly with Chigurh as they sit in his room and Chigurh has his silenced shotgun on him and he says to Chigurh "You don't have to do this. I'm a daytrader. I could just go home. I can make it worth your while, take you to an ATM, I have 14 grand in it" and Chigurh almost laughs and says "An ATM??". Carson then continues that he know where the money is and that he can get it from the riverbank where Moss throw it into, however Chigurh says he knows it will be placed at his feet but Carson warns him "You don't know that to a certainty" but Chigurh says he does and that Caron should accept his fate and Carson angrily tells him "You go to hell!".   

So, as Chigurh asks Carson "If the rule you followed brought you to this, of what use was the rule?" and Carson simply asks Chigurh "Do you have any idea just how crazy you are?" and Chigurh asks "You mean the nature of this conversation?" and Carsons "I mean the nature of YOU! You can have the money, Anton".  

And in the unlikely casting of Kelly MacDonald, she also proves to be really good in her role as Carla Jean, Moss's worried wife, and you quickly forget that she is Scottish, when you hear her more than adequate Texan accent. 

Kelly also has some good moments in the film such as the first scene where Moss comes home to Carla Jean with the satchel of money and the guns he found. So, Carla Jean asks him as he comes in with the money "What's in the satchel?" and Moss replies "Its full of money" and she quietly says "That'll be the day". And then she asks him about the gun he found "Where did you get that gun?" and Moss tell her "at the getting place!".

Moss then get's a beer and sits down next to Carla Jean, who sits watching TV and she asks him "What did you give for that thing?" and Moss tells her "You don't need to know everything" and she says "I need to know THAT!" and Moss opens his beer can and says "You keep running that mouth and I'll have to take you in the back and screw you!" and Carla Jean says "Big talk!" and Moss says "Keep it up!". So, Carla Jean grins and says "Fine! I don't wanna know. I don't even wanna know where you've been all day!" and Moss says to her "That'll work".

And lastly there is Kelly's final scene which comes near the end where Chigurh turns up at Carla Jean's home and she says to him "I knew you was crazy as soon as I saw you sittin there.  I knew this wasn't over with.  I knew exactly what was in store for me". And Carla Jean pleads with Chigurh and says "You don't have to do this" and Chirugh for once shows a little emotion and he says "People always say the same thing!" and Carla Jean asks "What?" and he says "You don't have to do this". So, Chigurh takes out his coin and says "Alright, this is the best I can do" and he puts the coin on his knee and asks her to call it. However, after a beat, Carla Jean shakes her head and says "No, I ain't gonna call it" but Chigurh almost pleads with her to "call it" but Carla Jean refuses "The coin has no say, its just you!" and he tells her "Well, I got here the same way the coin did".  

But the film's best performance is without doubt from Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh, who won the Oscar for best supporting actor for his chilling performance as the unfeeling psychopathic hitman. And its funny how in some scenes with his ridiculous haircut resembles, that Bardem resembles the British actor and comedian Peter Serafinowicz! ;-)

Bardem's potrayal of the sociopathic hitman is exceptional, and he must rank as one of the most chilling antagonists in any film, with his cold blooded, and at times almost robotic responses.  Chigurh clearly operates on a different plane from anyone else, and there are several scenes in the film that are highlights, particularly in the silent moments where he tracks down Moss, and has his gunfight with him on the streets, his gunfight with the mexicans at the motel, as well the scene where he blows up a car to create a diversion outside a local chemist, so he can steal some drugs to treat his wounds.

Bardem also get's some of the film's best dialogue starting with the scene in the convenience store where he tells the store owner to "Call it" and he puts down his coin.  And the store owner nervously asks "I need to know what we're calling" and Chigurh says "Everything!" and the owner says "I never put anything up" and Chigurh coldly says "Yes you have, you've been putting it up your whole life and you didn't even know it!". Chigurh then asks the owner "You know what date is on this coin? 1958! Its been travelling 22 years to get here and now its here and you have to call it!". The store owner nervously asks "Look, I need to know what I stand to win?" and Chigurh tells him "Everything! You stand to win everything, now call it!".

So, the store owner nervously says "All right, heads then" and Chigurh looks at the coin and it shows heads and he says "Well done!" and the owner goes to take the coin and Chigurh tells him "Don't put it in your pocket, its your lucky quarter!". So, the owner asks him "Where do you want me to put it?" and Chigurh tells him "Anywhere but your pocket, or it will get mixed in with the others and just become a coin. Which it is" and he slowly walks out leaving the nervous store owner alone.  

And there is the scene where Chigurh meets with Carson at Carson's hotel and he says to him as he follows Carson up the stairs "Hello, Carson. Let's go to your room". So, as they sit in Carson's room, Carson tells Chigurh "You don't have to do this. I know where the money is. I can get it" and Chigurh says "I know something better. I know where its going to be. It will be brought to me and placed at my feet". Carson however says a little defiantly "You don't know to a certainty" but Chigurh tells him "I do know to a certainty. And you know what's going to happen now. You should admit to her situation. There would be more dignity to it" and Carson, realising he is done for, defiantly says "You go to hell!" and Chigurh smiles and asks him "Let me ask you this, if the rule you followed brought you to this, of what use was the rule?". And Carson asks Chigurh bluntly "Have any idea how crazy you are?" and Chigurh not getting him asks "You mean the nature of this conversation?" and Carson says "I mean the nature of YOU!" and he calmly says "You can have the money, Anton..." just before the phone rings and Chigurh shoots him.

And this is followed up with the moment in the sam scene where Moss calls to speak to Carson at the hotel and Chigurh answers the phone and Moss asks "Is Carson Wells there?" and Chigurh says "Not in the sense that you mean". So, Chigurh then offers Moss a deal to spare his wife and says "I'll make a deal with you, if you bring me the money I'll let her go.  Otherwise she's accountable - the same as you.  That's the best deal your gonna get.  I won't tell you you can save yourself, because you can't".    

Another good and somewhat unsettling scene is where Chigurh breaks his way into the man's office who hired him and shoots him in the throat with his silenced shotgun, which causes him to fall back on the floor and lies gargling his last breath, as Chigurh coldly stands over him and a terrified accountant witnesses the killing.

So, in the scene Chigurh asks the accountant without looking up "Who are you?" and the accountant asks "Me?" and Chigurh says "Yes" and the accountant tells him "Nobody, accounting". Chigurh without looking up says to the accountant "He gave the Mexicans a receiver" and the accountant nervously says "He feels...he felt that the more people looking..." and Chigurh interrupts and says "That's foolish. You pick the one right tool". And the accountant finally brings up the nerve to ask "Are you going to shoot me?" and Chigurh finally turns round to face the accountant and says to him "That depends. Do you see me?" and the two men just stare at each other.

PLOT SPOILER AHEAD!!! OF SORTS ANYWAY!

And last of all is the scene where after Chigurh leaves Carla Jean's home, his car collides with another car in an accident that leaves him badly injured with a broken arm. So, as he manages to get out his damaged car, two young boys on bikes stop at him and ask if he is ok and Chigurh says to one of them "What will you take for the shirt?" and the young boy with the T-Shirt says "Hell, I'll give you my shirt, Mister". So, as the boy takes off his shirt and gives it to Chigurh who asks the boy "Just to tie for me. Just tie it!" and the young boy ties the shirt into a sling, which Chigurh slips on himself and squeezes his broken arm into, which has a bone sticking out!

Chigurh then offers the boy a hundred dollar note for his help and the boy says "Hell, Mister. I don't mind helping somebody out but that's alot of money!" but Chigurh insits and holds out the bill and he says "Take it! And you didn't see me. I was already gone!". So, Chigurh painfully get's up and slowly limps away from the scene of the accident like a phantom of sorts or even like Keyser Soze might have done himself! ;-)

DIRECTOR & MUSIC

Direction wise, the Cohen Brothers never put a foot wrong here, and they create a quiet but utterly intense atmosphere throughout the film, yet they still allow for a few moments of levity.  And many of the films highlights come from the quiet scenes, with sparse dialogue, which makes them more suspenseful.  Visually the film also looks stunning, with their regular cinema photographer, Roger Deakins, providing some spectacular scenes, particularly in the opening sequences out in the wide open region of Texas. And its safe to say that the Cohen Brothers definitely deserved their Academy Awards for best picture and director(s). 

As for the music score, Carter Burwell also deserves mention, again the Cohen brother's regular composer, as he provides a very minimal score, with some intense passages, that add to the atmosphere of the film throughout. In fact, I don't think I ever really recalled the music until the very end of the film when the credits role the first time I watched it, well that and the start of the film!

FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)

As for flaws.... well yes the film does have some niggles...

And for starters you could was some crticism from some viewers who thought that the film's ending left things unfinished, but if you look at the film again, it does pretty much tie up all the loose ends.  The only one left at the end you could probably say is what happens to Chigurh is somewhat less clear, but I guess the Cohen brother's wanted to leave his fate as being ambiguous. However, if you are expecting a happy ending here, you've come to the wrong film is all I can say! 

You could also probably argue that Moss could have covered his tracks better than he did, by burning down his trailer for starters, so that way no one would ever have tracked him down, and that would have made things that bit more difficult for Chigurh to locate him. Especially as he leaves everything lying around for Chigurh to ultimately nosy about his trailer and find his phone bill to try out his contacts to locate him! 

Its also a bit daft of Moss deciding to go back to the scene of the shootout later with water for the dying Mexican, who by then most likely would have died from his gunshot wound so his return was basically a waste of time in itself and just ended up putting himself in further danger. But then again if he went on with his own business, he doubtless might have been tracked down and killed by Chigurh even sooner.  

I also thought that Moss's decision to go to the motel and place the money in between ventilation shafts of the motel was also a bit daft as Moss had to spend so much time creating a large hook out of coat hangers and tent poles, which left him struggling to try and retrieve the money later from the shaft just as Chigurh arrived at the hotel to slaughter the Mexicans!  And at this point its like Moss had the foresight that the money somehow was being tracked, which of course it was as Chigurh uses a tracking device, which homes in on a transponder hidden in the briefcase and Moss's heightened senses are what just about keeps him alive long enough in the film to evade Chigurh. 

It also has to be said that whilst Chigurh is a twisted and fascinating character he can also be so obscure in his responses at times in the film you have to wonder what the hell he is on about at times.  Two examples of this are the scene where Chigurh ambushes and kills the Mexicans at the motel and he get's down the last one, who cowers fearfully hiding in the shower and Chigurh quietly asks him "How did you find that?" find what exactly, Anton??? 

And then there is the moment where Chigurh barges into the office of the man who hired him to retrieve the money and he shoots him in the throat and as he stands over the dying man, he asks a young nervous accountant behind who he is and as the accountant nervously asks "are you going to shoot me?" Chigurh says "That depends.  Do you see me?" Again what the hell is he on about???  I guess it just highlights that the man just doesn't operate mentally on the same plane as anyone else, which would of course in part explain his strange and psychotic behaviour.  But these are just minor niggles. 

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, No Country For Old Men after 13 years is still a great film and easily one of the best of its period and indeed the 21st Century! Its a film that get's just about everything right in its brooding and intense atmosphere and its superb performances, witty Cohen Brothers dialogue not to mention their superb taut direction where they build up so much suspense even without any words! It also features one of the most memorable and chilling villains in Anton Chigurh that propelled Javier Bardem into stardom and won him the Oscar for best supporting actor.

So, overall NCFOM (sorry just to save on typing lol!) is a modern classic and well worth checking out almost 15 years on and just about remains the Cohen Brothers finest moment.

Right, that's it for now and I will be back soon with another post.

Till then its ciao the now!