No Country for Old Men - A Heart Racing Movie Unlike Anything In All Of Hollywood

No Country for Old Men

By: Noah Newcomb

        This is a movie I had been dying to get to. I had heard of No Country's reputation and this was the
movie I wanted to see the most. Just in the first ten minutes, I was in. I told my dad the next day after seeing this that there are only two performances that give me chills every time I see them on screen: Heath Ledger's performance as Joker and Javier Bardem's performance in No Country for Old Men. Every time Bardem appears on the screen I'm biting my nails and at the edge of my seat. I've seen Bardem before in Skyfall and Pirates of the Caribean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. This is by far his best performance and he is aided by playing such a well-created character. Anton Chigurh is one of the most intriguing characters I've seen. I would also like to talk about Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin. I'll start out with Tommy Lee Jones who is also great as well. I don't think he competes on the level that Bardem is at but he's still giving a great Tommy Lee Jones performance. He's listed number one on most casting lists which is rather strange to me. I don't think he's the main character because he's just not in it enough to justify it. Next is Josh Brolin who is also giving a great performance as well. You really begin to root for this guy and what him to stay alive. I would also like to briefly mention Woody Harrelson who I forgot was in this movie. I think Woody Harrelson is giving a solid performance I'm just not completely sure about his character. I don't think he's playing a bad character I just don't really get everything he does or really care about him. I don't think that's necessarily a flaw, I just think that's something the Coen brothers could improve on. Speaking of the Coen brothers I think they definitely deserve some credit for how fantastic of a movie this is. A weak before this I saw True Grit, another great movie that I enjoyed. I haven't read the book by Cormac Mcarthy which this movie is based on. I did look up the differences between the book and the movie and if I had to take a guess I would say that I would likely enjoy the movie over the book. I don't know anyone who has read the full book so if you have, email me at my email moviemaniacs2020@gmail.com. This is also a visually interesting movie. I like the action and it gets me excited and pumping with adrenaline. The Coen brothers feed on your expense beautifully. Bardem aids their skills with his performance because if you're nervous, it's likely because of Bardem.

SPOILERS!!!

        If you're reading this part I'm going to assume you've already seen the movie. If not watch the movie before reading this. So I mentioned earlier about the ending and that's mainly what this spoiler section is going to be about but before I do I want to go back to Josh Brolin's character. I was saying how we want his character to make it out of this alive and if you've seen the film you know he doesn't make it out. When we see Tommy Lee find Brolin lying dead on the floor, I was honestly shocked. My dad is currently watching Game of Thrones and he's always talking to me about how that show will get you to like a character and then kill him off quickly. Brolin's death kind of reminded me about what my dad described. I looked at the time and by the time of Brolin's death, we have been following his character for an hour and thirty minutes. That shocked me. Woody Harrelson had already died at this point and so I was thinking, "Well only two main characters left." When we saw Tommy Lee Jones again my mind snapped back to the title: No Country for Old Men. I would've laid down money Tommy Lee was going to die and they actually both make it out. We've pretty much reached the ending so I'll summarize this review by talking about that. 

        After Brolin dies we seem to go through a bit of a time jump and we see Brolin's wife at her mother's funeral who we had seen a bit of throughout the movie. After she leaves the funeral she gets confronted by Bardem who had promised Brolin he would kill her so we know why he's here and this is one of the best scenes of the movie. Bardem telling her to call what side the coin will be on and she won't call it. When she says this Bardem seems to be confused and unsure of what to do. Afterward, we see Bardem walking out of the wife's house. I think the Coen brothers what you to think about whether or not Bardem killed the wife or not. I personally think he did but it could go either way. Then Bardem gets hit by a car and for some reason, I knew that was going to happen, not sure why, but I did. I though Bardem was going to die, but he doesn't. He gets a shirt from a boy and uses it as a sling and just walks off and we never see him again. Then we get a monologue bit from Tommy Lee and he does a great job of delivering it. Then the movie just ends. I was shocked, this shouldn't work. By every rule of screenwriting and yet somehow it works. I don't think this is a movie for everyone. This was aimed at me I think. I always enjoy when movies subvert expectations, except for the Last Jedi. Sorry. If you want a complete story this most likely won't satisfy you but it works for me and I love it for that. 

Final Thoughts

        I love No Country for Old Men! It is one of my favorite movies of all time. I understand if you don't love it as much as I do but I still think this is a movie everyone should check out just because of what a piece of art this is. Strongest Recommend I can give to a movie.

No Country for Old Men Trailer