No Country For Old Men

No Country For Old Men 2007, directed by Joel and Ethan Coen
Nominated for 8 Oscars, Won 4.

Synopsis: In rural Texas, welder and hunter Llewelyn Moss discovers the remains of several drug runners who have all killed each other in an exchange gone violently wrong. Rather than report the discovery to the police, Moss decides to simply take the two million dollars present for himself. This puts the psychopathic killer, Anton Chigurh, on his trail as he dispassionately murders nearly every rival, bystander and even employer in his pursuit of his quarry and the money. As Moss desperately attempts to keep one step ahead, the blood from this hunt begins to flow behind him with relentlessly growing intensity as Chigurh closes in. Meanwhile, the laconic Sherrif Ed Tom Bell blithely oversees the investigation even as he struggles to face the sheer enormity of the crimes he is attempting to thwart.

(source: IMDB)

Before watching this movie, I was under the impression that this film was going to be extremely boring. It didn't look all that thrilling to me, and was sure I wasn't going to enjoy it much. I remembered when it came out, and seeing the previews for it. I didn't think too much about the movie, not did I remember what it was about when I decided to start this project, and picked up this film at the library.

Reading the back of the box, I felt optimistic. It said it was an "action-packed thriller" and the story about a man finding dead men, a truck full of drugs, 2 million dollars cash, and violence sounded pretty promisin Unfortunately, I came out of the film disappointed.

The film started interestingly. We see Javier Bardem, killing various people in shocking and unexpected way and we know this guy is going to be a mastermind, and a huge played in the film. Though his relevance takes a while to unfold. We are about 25 minutes into the film before we see why we are looking at this killer.

We also follow the storylines of Llewelyn Moss, a retired welder and hunter, who is the main, main protagonist of this film, and sherriff Ed Tom Bell, who is on the verge of retirement, but friendly with the town-folk.

I remember sitting through this, and the action had finally started. Chigurh was tracking Moss, and many people are getting killed. There's several moments of suspense, but not much else. I started to find some of this film fairly predictable. Chigurh is in the house, don't do in. Chigurh put a tracker in the money. Chigurh has already caught up to you, run fast! While the movie didn't end as I had expected, I sat on my couch, thinking about what had just happened. That was it? But where was the action-packed thriller that I was promised? Sure, there was action (sparingly) and suspense (in a few moments) but overall, I found the film to be lacking. Had I not went into this thinking this was going to be some constant-action movie, I may have appreciated it more. But there we have it, false advertising the summary on the back of the DVD holds.

That being said, everything else about the film was quite fantastic. The acting was great, Javier Bardem (who won an Oscar for this role, as Chigurh) especially. He was extraordinarily creepy, and his acting was spotless. He seriousness was flawless, and his character was stunning. Pulling huge and unexpected weapons from seemingly nowhere, and killing without a blink.

Additionally, it was visually stunning. The cinematography was fantastic, and the landscapes were beautiful. The cinematographer, certainly did a stunning job.

Overall, the film was a strange one, but just ok. Had it not been acted so well, or looked so good, I wouldn't understand the hype that this movie received. While I somewhat enjoyed it, it wasn't a favourite.

Acting- 9.5/10 

Directing- 8.5/10 
Screenplay- 8/10 

Visuals- 9/10 

Music- 7.5/10 

Emotional Connection- 6.5/10 

Entertainment- 6.5/10 

Rewatchability- 6.5/10 

Overall Enjoyment- 7.5/10 

Overall Package- 8/10       

Total: 77.5/100