A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

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Title: No Country for Old Men

Date Viewed: 12/1/07

Details:

Tommy Lee Jones

Javier Bardem

Josh Brolin

Woody Harrelson

Kelly Macdonald

Directed by: Ethan & Joel Coen

Score: 0

The Review: Anton Chigurh (pron. "sugar": Bardem) is a single-minded psychopath; Llewelyn Moss (Brolin), a stupid hick; Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Jones), laconic and plodding -- "characters" all. And these are the good parts of the film! But now the questions come -- is this a snuff film with (pretensions to) class, or a difficult translation to the screen of a confusing experimental novel? Just who is the focal character (if there is one), and why should I be interested or sympathetic with any of them? To me, it's not obviously a character-driven or plot-driven film; is this a "theme" movie about death? I can't answer these questions, and it's not for lack of thinking about it.

Sorry, but this one simply didn't connect -- I didn't dislike it, but didn't actively like it either. I certainly cannot recommend it, but it's not bad. I have mixed experience with the Coen brothers' films -- most of those I've seen, I liked (Fargo; Big Lebowski; Brother, Where Art Thou?), but not all (Hudsucker Proxy); I've not been motivated to see any of the others, so I guess I have an edge to my experimental viewing. Many were enjoyable; but this was not one of them.

There are some amusing "in" jokes -- visible for me only in retrospect, during the trailing credits -- like "Mike Voss Pharmacia" and "The one best tool." And one of the more curious quotations from the film -- "You can't stop it from coming; it's not about you." Huh?! I guess I have to attribute this to the screenwriter(s), because I cannot find this quotation anywhere in McCarthy's novel.

(27-Dec-07)

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