The same respective side of two very different coins

Rating: 9/10 (7 December 2009)

You know a trailer was great and did it's job when you watch it for the first time and think, "I want to see this right now!" Such was the case after I witnessed this film's visual blurb and couldn't stand the wait until it came out. And the film itself did not disappoint! (Even though a second view helped me get a better handle on the whole arc of it's events.)
It's creepy from moment one. The whole atmosphere is like the ends of the earth itself, whether Josh Brolin is out hunting, at home or in some rented room for a while. You probably have an advantage if you haven't read the book, I guess, not having read the book yet myself. The knowledge of what is going to happen from scene to scene would have only ruined the ability to take all this in and not process the action (and actions of the folks involved) the wrong way. Meaning, some events that are pure cliché in most films don't happen here, at least not nearly the way one might think they will. Expecting formula fare from "No Country For Old Men" is like trying to buy vending machine candy from a gasoline pump.
The Oscar winning Javier Bardem redefines the word intimidating for the early 21st century, as his murderous robot of a criminal shows all the emotion of dry ice. The aftermath of people taking their eyes off what should not be ignored at all leads to lethal consequences for so many. Brolin and Bardem are pretty much polar opposites in this tale, but share a resilience that keeps their wounded men going when most males would run screaming into a police station to end this descent into sheer torture.