No Country for Old Men - spoilers probably

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gabbieful

New member
So come on.. opinions welcome!

I saw this today after all the hype (23rd best film EVER according to imdb) and to be honest, I came away feeling a little bit flat.

The cinematography is absolutely beautiful, and the story is interesting, but I didn't manage to absorb the celebrated opinion that it's a prime example of the failure of the hunter in becoming the hunted.

It seemed a little patchworky insofar as you never really felt that the trials of Llewelyn actually tied in with the retiring Sheriff Bell's deliberately lackadaisical approach to investigating what was going. I can appreciate that that was the whole point of Tommy Lee Jones' character i.e. the understated approach to policing producing the same result as if he'd been a gun-toting ultra-cop, but there was such an element of disconnection between what were essentially two separate stories i.e. Llewelyn's run and Bell's soul-searching that I thought something important was missing; what that is, I still haven't figured out - perhaps that was the point?

The problem is that I'm not really compelled to go to the cinema and watch it again as I'm not actually that fussed, which in my mind at least, isn't the mark of great product.

I do wonder whether all the commotion over the film would've been quite so prevalent if it hadn't have been a Coen Brothers production.. we'll never know.
 
Well i must disagree. We're only 3 weeks into the year and it's already a contender for my film of the year. Thought all of the main performances were great but Javier Bardem was very good indeed. He was a complete psychopath but never showed it. I've also never been to see a film where you could hear a pin drop in the cinema. Highly recommended from me.
 
I saw it tonight - big cinema, probably 750 people - you could have heard a pin drop (well, pop-corn more likely).

I really enjoyed it until about two-thirRAB of the way through where it started to focus more on TLJ. I think he was great in the role, and I get the whole pre-retirement thing - but that spoilt it a bit for me.

I just always have this "it could have been better if..." feeling. In this case, it could have been better if... it had been a classic hunter vs. hunted to the final moments, with each of them becoming more and more desperate... and nothing more. I also really wanted Llewellyn to somehow win.

I think it'll become a cult classic anyway.
 
Well I've just seen this tonight after reading some 5 star reviews..and I am very disappointed. Maybe im not intelligent enoughto know what it was all about but I thought it was far too slow.

If the film just focussed on the chase between the hitman and Llewellyn it would have been far better. All the other stuff around it made it just a little too weird.

2/5 for me
 
Just finished watching it -loved the first 3/4 but when the POV changed to TLJ's character it all got a bit boring for me.

can someone explain the significance of the end monologue?
 
I saw it at an advanced screening on Wednesday with a friend. I really enjoyed it, and despite the "twist" that happens 2/3 of the way through causing the final 1/3 to be a bit underwhelming, i still left the cinema feeling relatively satisfied, particularly considering that it left me and my friend debating the ending for over an hour! Surely the sign of a good film.

I've got to say though, that i absolutely loved the atmosphere and tension that the film managed to keep up throughout the first 2/3, Javier Bardem tracking Josh Brolin to the Motel had me absolutely crapping myself, even though i knew what was coming, lol. Surely Anton Chigurh will go down as one of cinemas most iconic bad guys with the combination of silenced shotgun, stun gun, and that evil, blank stare.

I'd give it about 9/10, probably not my choice for the Best Picture Oscar due to the way it seems to "cop out" towarRAB the end, but up until that point it is superb.
 
Just watched it, and ended up wondering what the hell was that all about.....

More annoying is did the wife get shot at the end or not....????

And Clarke... what twist ???
 
after Chigurh comes out of the house (after he may or may have not killed the wife) he looks at his shoes to see if he had blood on them, like he always did after he killed someone - so I guess we are to assume he did.

Her and Brolin's deaths being off camera was a little unfillfilling for me - but I think we were supposed to feel that way.

I read a good post on IMDB which expalins what are alot of people think about the 'deeper meaning of the film' i.e. Chigurh represents the never ending stallking of death you can't hide from it, you can't make choices about whether you will die or not (coin toss).

There is a lot of duality with the two rooms (that TLJ goes in but doesn't die) the two trees, the coin etc and, although I don't care enough to get into it too much, I guess: Chigurh and TLJs characters.

The final monologue and the two dreams: dream 1 his life so far, dream 2 probably something to do with him finding god and/or spiriruality, realsing that yes the world perhaps was got more violent but no you can't do anythnig about it. he accepts it... he literally sees the light... is content but then he wakes up.

Apparantly you have to see it a few times to pick all this up but I can't really be bothered at this stage - still under whelmed by it
 
Yes - this performance is surely what makes the film (and why it should have concentrated on the more basic good v evil theme to the end).

Oh... and don't forget the bad hair - a crucial part of Chigurh's image
 
No Country For Old Men was already being tagged a classic/masterpiece by reviewers before it's official movie release,and the first hour fifteen minutes I would agree,but then Josh Brolin's character is inexplicably just killed off,and this literally kills the movie! What's he point?! The Coen Brothers trying to be arty farty again? This doesn't deserve an Oscar,and the closing dialogue is ridiculous. It's a shame because Brolin,Lee Jones,Macdonald and especially Bardem are all excellent until the movie self-destructs!
 
Well i suppose it's more of a surprise than a twist, but i was meaning the way that Josh Brolin was suddenly (and disappointingly) killed off screen.

I think we all must remember though that this film is based on a book, and the way that the death of Llewellyn is revealed from TLJ's characters perspective is probably because it made more sense in book form. I'm assuming that the Coens were just trying to be faithful to the book as opposed to being "arty-farty".
 
Watched it last night and thought it was a little slow, i probably watched it in the wrong circumstances, (with some mates rather than on my own) and i'll probably watch it again in about a week or so on my own to really appreciate it.

One thing we all agreed on though was the awesomeness of that shotgun!!
 
I watched the film Saturday and I'm still wondering what was it about....Its like they started a story but forgot to end it, and things that happened in the film didn't follow through, why was LLewellyn killed off screen as far as I was concerned the film was about the (psycho) catching him and which one would die.....I really would have liked to have seen the scene where they met up.
I'm thinking Llewellyns wife was killed though.
 
Loved the film. I liked the pace, the cinematography, the dialogue, the violence, the tension and I even liked the fact Llewellyn got blown away.

The last time I saw Llewellyn's wife, she was Diane the schoolgirl in Trainspotting.
 
I haven't seen the film, but I have read the book, and from all indications it's very faithful to the book, structured exactly the same way. And, going by the book...

He does shoot the wife, after offering her the toss of a coin
 
I thought it was a decent well made, well acted film although i will agree that it has been overhyped and I dont agree with all the reviews which state it is the Coen brother's best movie since Fargo (for a start, The Big Lebowski is far superior).

The thing that annoys me the most is how much hype Tommy Lee Jones fairly boring performance is getting. I mean everyone is going on about him and Javier Bardem (who does deserve the hype) but no one seems to mention Josh Brolin, who is the main character, has the most screentime and puts in a decent performance which holRAB the whole film together.
 
I will have to agree with you on this one. I felt very disappointed considering all the hype this film has tailing it.

There's no doubt that the acting in this movie is phenomenal, especially by the caballero Javier. And it's a pretty smart flick. BUT...I was bored to death for most of it. There were some scenes that had me gasping at the edge of my seat...but they were rare.

I wish it hadn't been so damn subtle.
And i have an unexplainable dislike for Tommy lee Jones. Can't stand that guy
 
I saw this film last night and absolutely loved it! The characters, dialogue, scenery and suspense were brilliantly handled and I was sucked into the film from the first minute. I liked the lighting in the hotel room when TLJ goes back to it after Josh Brolin is killed and the reflection in the key barrell was a fantastic shot. I really felt the pain when both Anton and Llewellyn were hurt and all of the actors played their parts extremely well.

For all of those people who were hoping for the chase between Anton and Llewellyn to end the film, if you want to watch a chase movie go and see Predator or something else. I still don't understand the movie completely, but I will given time. Just because you don't understand a film within the first five minutes, don't be lazy and dismiss it. In fact, go and read the book!
 
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