No Country for Old Men (2007)
No Country for Old Men Movie Review
No Country for Old Men is a 2007 western thriller crime film directed by the Coen brothers and starring Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin. It is a disappointing, overrated movie.
“ What’s the most you ever lost in a coin toss?“
This is the type of film that I dislike. Its plot is too simplistic and despite its many themes, most of them are never really touched upon and are left unexplored. The film is too fast in its pacing as it moves relentlessly and is basically an action film in style which I really disliked. The entire cat-and-mouse thriller aspect to it is typical, but it does produce some interesting scenes. The movie doesn’t particularly succeed in either of the three genres as it isn’t really a western when you think about it, the thriller aspects are disappointing and the crime elements are okay, but nothing spectacular. And the ending I found to be stupid as it didn’t resolve anything. The movie just ended.
The characters are good, but never great. Tom Bell is pretty solid, but Moss isn’t that well developed and Anton Chigurh is a typical villain created to appeal to the masses. He did pose some real threat, but he was also unrealistic and too theatrical for my taste. The acting is pretty good. Tommy Lee Jones is good as usual, Josh Brolin is also solid and Javier Bardem gave a really good performance, even if his character is too one-note.
No Country for Old Men is technically disappointing as well. It has some good action scenes that are thrilling, but, as I said before, its pacing is too fast. It was edited really well, but moves too briskly. The directing is also disappointing and I continue to feel indifferent towards these directors. This is supposed to be their greatest work and to me it is again very disappointing and immensely overrated.
The tone is too depressing and dark as the film is literally one giant mood kill. Its ending is so frustrating, its themes are annoyingly left unexplored, the dialogue is very simplistic and the cinematography is so weak with too many overly dark sequences that annoyed me. The movie is original in its mix of genres and I respected that, but it unfortunately failed in the execution of that mix, ending in a weak movie. And I do not understand this purported humor of the movie as I never found any trace of it whatsoever as the film is overly serious and dark. Its violence also bothered me, but at least it was mostly absent from the movie as it could have been much worse given its premise. But I again never really bought this villain character and how he managed to stay alive for so long was very unrealistic.
No Country for Old Men won four Oscars including Best Picture in a year filled with very overrated nominees. It didn’t deserve its acting and directing wins in my opinion, the nod for cinematography is absolutely ridiculous as it is certainly one of the worse aspects of the film, but at least the editing nod is pretty much deserved as the film admittedly is tightly edited. But in the end, this is a very annoying and an immensely disappointing movie.
