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| Movie Review: No Country for Old Men Alternate Title: Law & Disorder
Story: If you are a Coen Brothers
fan like me, run, don't walk to your local theater to see their latest
film. It has all of the delicious ingredients we have come to expect
from them. It has the drama of a Greek tragedy, flashes of howling humor,
over the top Uber-violence, quirkiness with a capital 'Q' and a depressing
point of view about the society in which we all live. Writers and directors
Joel & Ethan Coen based their film on the novel
by Cormac McCarthy. The film follows the story of three characters
whose paths are about to cross. The aging sheriff represents the good
in a society whose values are changing before his eyes - like a
tide washing over him. The blue collar worker represents what money
can do to our personal value system when he stumbles upon a briefcase
of drug money and makes decisions that change his life. The psychopath
represents pure, unharnessed evil as he tracks down the money. Cinematographer Roger Deakins
fills the screen with a vast canvas in a bleached out landscape that,
at times seems to swallow the characters whole. If you like your endings neat and tidy this film
will leave you a little bent out of shape. The Coen Brothers have presented
a dissertation on life, aging, evil, fate and the uncertainties of a
society run amok. Go see it and be entertained. Acting: Tommy Lee Jones gets better
and better with each role. He is dynamite as the sheriff who cannot
fathom what has happened to the world around him. Josh Brolin
is having a great year and his role as the guy who finds the money is
perfect for him. Javier Bardem is an actor who knows
no limits. He is nothing short of perfection as the psychopath killer.
Supporting roles by Woody Harrelson, Kelly Macdonald, Garret
Dillahunt and Tess Harper are great and of
course the Coen Brothers have found minor characters who are fascinating
and fill the screen with their presence. Predilection: I love the Coen Brothers and am a HUGE
fan of Javier Bardem. Critters: Warning for those that want to know in
advance - two pit bulls are shot to death. Other than dogs we have horses,
cattle and chickens.
Food: No time to eat while hunting down psychopaths.
Sex Spectrum: No time for sex while running from psychopaths.
Soundtrack: Eerily Coen Bothers-ish.
Opening Titles: None. All titles at the end.
Visual Art: A stark canvas of a dying society Theater Audience: Shockingly packed for a 2 PM showing
on a Thursday.
Weather: Hot and dusty in the Southwest.
Sappy Factor: 0
Quirky Meter: 5
Squirm Scale: 3 - The violence is very squirmy.
Drift Factor:I did not drift for a nanosecond. Predictability Level: I did not read the book so
I was not sure what was going to happen.
Tissue Usage: 0
Oscar Worthy: Yes, yes and yes.
Big Screen or Rental: Go for the big screen. For
some other Coen Brothers films to rent how about Fargo, The Big Lebowski,
Miller's Crossing and O Brothers, Where Art Thou?
Length: Two hours.
LOBO HOWLS: 9
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