No Country For Old Men

[HelloKinky]

I did a search for this and it doesn't have it's own thread.
Why is beyond me, but this is one of the best movies of the year. One of the Coen's finest.

The dialogue itself is amazing and the acting and the tension is so tight you can cut it with a knife is great.

Stellar performances by everyone but especially for Javier Bardem who is a very underestimated actor who's finally getting his due after so many cameos and a great role in "The Sea Inside", and Tommy Lee Jones as the aging sheriff.

This movie seems to not be for everyone as I was watching it almost a month back people in the audience were almost pissed at how it ended and didn't really "get" the overall idea of the movie.

The book itself, as it is adapted from one, is really good as well.

And again it's the Coen's, they rarely disappoint, well aside from Intolerable Cruelty but that wasn't all theirs anyways.

[bat_collector]

I liekd it a lot as well

[TNovak]

I saw this a couple of days ago and thought it was great as well. :thumbs2:

I'm going to buy the novel too, just to see if there is more character development, but the movie is outstanding as is.

[bat_collector]

I kinda zoned out at the end and missed the point of the last conversation.

[TNovak]

I kinda zoned out at the end and missed the point of the last conversation.


I don't want to spoil anything for anybody who hasn't seen it, but that is also one of the reasons I want to read the novel as well. With a book the story can go into what characters are thinking. With a movie it either has to be overtly stated or implied in the filmmaking.

[biglebowski9999]

I thought it was really good. Not great, but really good.

[CocoPUFF]

I did a search for this and it doesn't have it's own thread.
Why is beyond me, but this is one of the best movies of the year. One of the Coen's finest.

The dialogue itself is amazing and the acting and the tension is so tight you can cut it with a knife is great.

Stellar performances by everyone but especially for Javier Bardem who is a very underestimated actor who's finally getting his due after so many cameos and a great role in "The Sea Inside", and Tommy Lee Jones as the aging sheriff.

This movie seems to not be for everyone as I was watching it almost a month back people in the audience were almost pissed at how it ended and didn't really "get" the overall idea of the movie.

The book itself, as it is adapted from one, is really good as well.

And again it's the Coen's, they rarely disappoint, well aside from Intolerable Cruelty but that wasn't all theirs anyways.

Saw this and liked it alot...but did I miss something? In your opinion what was the overall idea of the movie?

[Davidian]

I started watching this online a while back, but didn't finish it, but from what I saw, it was pretty dope.

[Trilogy]

I thought this was pretty mediocre.

[Doc Sonic]

I saw this earlier this month.

I enjoyed the story and the mounting tension. However, I don't feel there was any " pay-off " at the end of the movie and left the theatre feeling un-fufilled.

From what I understand, the theme of the movie has to do with the changing times and increasing violence in our society. It is a new, brutal atmosphere in America, and is no longer " a country for old men ". Especially for a old sheriff ( Tommy Lee Jones' character ) who was brought up and worked the bulk of his career in tamer times.

IJones' character almost seemed like an afterthought to the movie. Instead of he's ruminations on the state of violence in society taking a central theme in the movie, they seemed more like a subtext to the real story going on in the film.

I felt that the meat of the movie really concentrated the pursuit of Josh Brolin's character by the hitman. It was an intense series of events and really got me emtionally invested in both characters.

I felt the conclusion for both of these characters ( particuarly Brolin's character ) was very unfufilling. There was so much focus on these two people and to have the movie end as it did ( and abruptly, to boot ) it was a letdown.

I think this movie is a case of not being able to convey the complexities of a novel on film.

[TNovak]

I saw this earlier this month.

I enjoyed the story and the mounting tension. However, I don't feel there was any " pay-off " at the end of the movie and left the theatre feeling un-fufilled.

From what I understand, the theme of the movie has to do with the changing times and increasing violence in our society. It is a new, brutal atmosphere in America, and is no longer " a country for old men ". Especially for a old sheriff ( Tommy Lee Jones' character ) who was brought up and worked the bulk of his career in tamer times.

IJones' character almost seemed like an afterthought to the movie. Instead of he's ruminations on the state of violence in society taking a central theme in the movie, they seemed more like a subtext to the real story going on in the film.

I felt that the meat of the movie really concentrated the pursuit of Josh Brolin's character by the hitman. It was an intense series of events and really got me emtionally invested in both characters.

I felt the conclusion for both of these characters ( particuarly Brolin's character ) was very unfufilling. There was so much focus on these two people and to have the movie end as it did ( and abruptly, to boot ) it was a letdown.

I think this movie is a case of not being able to convey the complexities of a novel on film.


****Spoiler Alert******
Don't read if you don't want to hear it






The novel has an additional chapter where Sugaire takes the money to the kingpin owner of it and says he wants to be used for difficult work and has kept a good portion of the money as a fee. It does a much better job of tying things up but neither the book or the movie does much to enlighten us on the specifics of the demise of Llewelyn

[JadeGiant]

planning to rent this one - looks good

[Justin]

I thought this film was great and i just picked up the book to see if there was much they left out of the film! :thumbs2:

[JLM]

I saw this last night and thought it was great. I think it's been some time since I saw a movie that was so tense.

I'd initially agree about the ending being somewhat unsatisfying, but in real life how often do things have a nice neat conclusion anyway? Having also read a little around the ending too, I think I "get" it a bit more.

[JM28Cardiff]

I also thought the ending was abrupt, and was surprised by events in the Josh Brolin storyline. But the bad guy, Chighur or however its spelt, was a total bad-ass! The scene where hes talking to the eldery garage owner about tossing a coin was chilling.

My friend tells me the actress who played Brolin's wife is up for an Oscar? Must have been slim pickings this year if thats true.

[JLM]

The coin toss scene is one of the scariest scenes I've watched in a long time. Talk about tense!

[Davidian]

I finally watched the whole movie and I thought it was awesome. The ending left me scratching my head though. Overall I thought it was an awesome movie.

[William Paquet]

Just watched it. The art of film is luxurious in the right hands.

The Coen Bros. are like Fincher all grown up, like Scorcese ala TAXI DRIVER.

The end left me aching, wanting.

I need another viewing to decide if the climax made it or ruined it.

Anton is a WESTWORLD Devil.:buttrock:

[armitage]

I watched this movie and loved every minute of it except the final moment where the film cuts off abruptly.

[William Paquet]

I watched this movie and loved every minute of it except the final moment where the film cuts off abruptly.

I felt like somebody snatched a icy cold Sam Adams from my grip, just before I took that first slug.

Gonna watch again and see how it all works.

[TNovak]

The book has an extra chapter that ties it up much better

[Comicboy]

:buttrock:


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[VaultMan]

The coin toss scene is one of the scariest scenes I've watched in a long time. Talk about tense!

I guess this is a future reference for how TwoFace should do his coins, eh? :thumbs2:

[armitage]

I felt like somebody snatched a icy cold Sam Adams from my grip, just before I took that first slug.

Gonna watch again and see how it all works.

:laugh:
LOL!
That sums it up very eloquently.:)

[Darth Torment]

I'm sorry but this movie was complete and utter junk.
I say that only because it won best picture. If it didn't I would say it had a little entertainment value (that of which only coming from the gimick air gun- that was kinda-neat. Not deserves an oscar kinda-neat), but overall was boring, bland, drawn out and overrated.

How this won best picture is beyond me. Just further supports my suspicions that the Cohens (sp?) know someone up the ladder quite well, or their daddy did.

[Justin]

I'm sorry but this movie was complete and utter junk.
I say that only because it won best picture. If it didn't I would say it had a little entertainment value (that of which only coming from the gimick air gun- that was kinda-neat. Not deserves an oscar kinda-neat), but overall was boring, bland, drawn out and overrated.

How this won best picture is beyond me. Just further supports my suspicions that the Cohens (sp?) know someone up the ladder quite well, or their daddy did.

Could not disagree more, I loved this film :thumbs2:

[Crom]

I got the impression the whole movie was about chance. Even when you think you are taking control of your life, no matter how well you think you have planned it out, one wrong turn, one bad decision and it is over.

How many thrillers or cop movies do you watch and you know what is going to happen next? Movies are escapism, so no main character is ever going to just get hit by a bus. But people get hit by buses in real life everyday.

Even the "bad guy"is subject to blind chance. I think the Coen brothers were making a movie that refused to follow normal movie conventions. I think they were trying to make a movie that was like true life, unpredictable.

I don't think you could make a movie like this more than once.

[William Paquet]

I have another fine post below for all you wonderful folksy type folks. Apparently, my brain has trouble understanding the difference between "edit" and "Quote" when attempting to update my remarks.

So instead of writing "double post" as the pedestrians do, I thought I might entice the reader with a prequel to my eloquent, thoughtful, and dare I say brilliant missive.

God bless you all.

Remember me.

Just remember me.

[William Paquet]

I talked with a bud of mine that works as a screen writer, and Cormac McCarthy is his favorite author. I haven't read the book yet, but he has, and the way he explained it McCarthy was essentially deconstructing all the established norms.

I'm going to watch it again this week sometime, but as I think about the events, the one that I find most salient to this discussion, and Crom's point in particular, is the car accident. It came out of nowhere, and other than illustrate the "idea" of the randomness of life, it adds nothing to the narrative of the story, if you watch the film from a perspective of status quo. If you consider the subtext though, and forget the narrative itself the scene is rather brilliant.

It's quite a fine exercise is story telling if you ask me. It's the kind of story that makes you think, without telling you to think, and forces you to participate with critical thinking in order to fully admire the complexities. Like learning to appreciate fine wine, or good scotch.

Or I could just be full of sh!t.:laugh:

[JLM]

I think that one of the points of the car accident scene is how it unnerves Chigurh, who has been implacably moving though the film both handing out death wherever he goes, as well as avoiding it. With the car accident, death looks like it's catching up with him, an experience he hasn't been used to.

[William Paquet]

I think that one of the points of the car accident scene is how it unnerves Chigurh, who has been implacably moving though the film both handing out death wherever he goes, as well as avoiding it. With the car accident, death looks like it's catching up with him, an experience he hasn't been used to.

That's a good addition. He's pretty shocked, but it's cool how he pulls himself together without a whimper and strolls off.

Sociopath, scary as all hell. Might be my favorite character since Hannibal Lechter. And actually a far better character, IMO.

[TNovak]

I like the Cohen brothers a lot, I really do, and I liked this movie a lot. But they followed the book almost exactly. The only exception is they left out the second to last chapter which did a much better job tying up some of these loose ends that are in the movie. It tells where the money went and why Chigaire was doing what he did etc.

I have no idea why the Cohens left that out unless as has been said they just wanted a film that had a lot of loose ends and showed the random and unpredictable nature of life. And in real life there are always a lot of loose ends. I think I and most others would have liked the movie better though if it had been included.

[gman]

i watched it over the weekend and was disppointed with the non-ending and the loose ends...and listening to tommy lee jones ramble on....zzzzzzz

[Doc Sonic]

Sociopath, scary as all hell. Might be my favorite character since Hannibal Lechter. And actually a far better character, IMO.


I enjoyed the character as well. But Lechter has so much more depth.

[Doc Sonic]

i watched it over the weekend and was disppointed with the non-ending and the loose ends...and listening to tommy lee jones ramble on....zzzzzzz


Yep. I know the feeling

[William Paquet]

I enjoyed the character as well. But Lechter has so much more depth.

The singular dimension of Anton is what makes him such a freak. I got the sense that if you dealt with Hannibal properly, you could actually be chums with him, whereas Anton would have a beer with you, then stick his thumbs through your eyes until they popped. Then he'd finish his beer and yours.

He's like a robotic serial killer, very scary.

[Justin]

The singular dimension of Anton is what makes him such a freak. I got the sense that if you dealt with Hannibal properly, you could actually be chums with him, whereas Anton would have a beer with you, then stick his thumbs through your eyes until they popped. Then he'd finish his beer and yours.

He's like a robotic serial killer, very scary.

I agree with this, If you didn’t piss Hannibal off he most likely wouldn’t hurt you. Where as Anton would murder you for just about any little reason

[Babytoxie]

Finally saw it last night... ugh.

I don't care if it accurately follows the book - the ending was horrible. Overall, a thumbs down, and I will pass on reading it.