No Country for Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007)

No Country for Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007)
Rating: 9.8

Rebounding from a couple of less than stellar efforts, Intolerable Cruelty and The Ladykillers, which I myself have no interest in watching, the Coen brothers deliver a film that cojures up the best elements of Blood Simple and Fargo, while managing to create a completely nihilistic and original film experience in the process. As Scott Foundas of the Village Voice states "in terms of filmmaking and storytelling craft, it is a work destined to be studied in film schools for generations to come." The Coen's once again assert themselves as not only the most capable contemporary American directors working today, but among the best in the world and in the history of cinema. No Country For Old Men, wears the veil of the western, the noir, and modern crime drama, yet reconstructs each genre to become it's own unique monster. The Coen's knack for writing dialogue specific to a distinct time and place is once again evident here. Defying all convention, the Coens timelapse past significant action sequences involving the main characters. However the film is not without suspense, in fact far from it. Not concerned with morality, principles, karma, etc., the film lingers on the madness of the world; the horrible and unexplainable things that happen, like murdering a man with a pressurized cattle gun. Out-of-work Vietnam vet Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) discovers a bag containing $2 million dollars while hunting antelope. Javier Bardem plays homicidal psychopath Anton Chigurh, who is perhaps the most fascinating on-screen character since Bill the Butcher and hunts Moss. Tommy Lee Jones plays sheriff, Ed Bell, who yearns for the days of the old west where good and evil was more black and white and less irrational. "In the end, everyone in No Country for Old Men is both hunter and hunted, members of some endangered species trying to forestall their extinction."