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The Washington Times, Show Section
November 9, 2007
Photo courtesy of The Washington Times
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In Paul Haggis' early fall film, "In the Valley of Elah," Tommy Lee Jones stars as a retired military police sergeant whose investigation into his soldier son's death reveals that the increasingly violent and unpredictable world has little room left in it for yesteryear's men and morals.
Now Mr. Jones returns in Joel and Ethan Coen's "No Country for Old Men," playing a mature border-town lawman whose investigation into a drug deal gone bad suggests that this hellish place is just ... well, you can figure it out from the title.
With shared cast members (Mr. Jones as well as Josh Brolin), similar themes (although "Elah" focused specifically on the Iraq war) and comparably stark landscapes, these two dark films are mildly reminiscent of each other. The biggest difference is in the quality of the products: "Elah" ultimately failed to deliver the gut-punch it promised, but "No Country" is one of the year's real knockouts, a riveting crime thriller that sneaks in both wry humor and poignant commentary.
Based on the book by Cormac McCarthy (author of "All the Pretty Horses" and "The Road") the Coen brothers' film gets off and running when Llewelyn Moss (Mr. Brolin) comes across a bloody crime scene while hunting one day in 1980 near the Rio Grande.
Along with the limp bodies of several men and a dog (dead canines are a refrain in the flick, underscoring the fading line that divides men from animals) Moss finds a cache of heroin and a briefcase filled with $2 million. Gosh, would that money come in handy for him and his pretty wife (Kelly Macdonald), who seem to be eking out a pretty rough existence in their small trailer home.
Because Moss has street smarts and determination working for him, it seems he might actually get away with swiping the cash (and we want him to, just like we wanted Holly Hunter to end up with that baby in the Coen brothers' "Raising Arizona") — until we meet the boogeyman in charge of that mystery money. His name is Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), and he's a coldblooded killer armed with a lethal "cattlegun" and a terrifying Engelbert Humperdinck-style shaggy 'do. Just how dangerous is this predator? Let's just say you don't want to guess wrong when he tells you to call heads or tails.
While Moss is trying his best to outsmart his tracker, the aging Sheriff Bell (Mr. Jones) is piecing together the details of the initial drug-related crime and various related murders. When the lawman (who's literally just a few steps behind Chigurh) realizes just how much danger Moss and his wife are in, he tries to lend a protective hand.
Even if you can guess the ultimate winner in this three-man race, the Coen brothers infuse the proceedings with as much tension as those masterful ESPN Classic producers can pack into a golden-era game they're revisiting for the umpteenth time.
The filmmakers' efforts are matched by the central cast members, whose performances are restrained but rich. Mr. Jones' character seems to gain stature in facing his own limits and mortality. Mr. Brolin somehow convinces viewers that for a man who has done a very dumb thing, he's just clever enough to keep the cat-and-mouse game interesting. For his part, Mr. Bardem presents a murderer so calculating, so expressionless and detached from the horrors he's committing that he's likely to star in more than a few nightmares.
"No Country" is dark, violent and bleak (there isn't even a musical score), but man, does it tell a good story.
***1/2
TITLE: "No Country for Old Men"
RATING: R (Strong graphic violence and some language)
CREDITS: Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Based on the book by Cormac McCarthy.
RUNNING TIME: 116 minutes
WEB SITE: www.nocountryforoldmen.com
MAXIMUM RATING: FOUR STARS
-- Jenny Mayo
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