Meditative yet tense, funny yet terrifying (SPOILERS)

Rating: Null/10 (17 February 2008)

While tracking a wounded animal to finish it off, Llewelyn Moss comes across the aftermath of a bloody shootout, seemingly of a drug deal gone terribly wrong. The drugs are still there but everyone is dead apart from one man who will be soon. Llewelyn finds the money and an attempted get-away only a few ridges away and keeps it. Later that night his conscience gets the better of him and he returns to check on the dying man. Unfortunately he is too late but this time he is noticed by those also looking for the money and he flees, leaving his truck behind. Knowing this will lead the criminals to him, Llewelyn packs his wife off to her mother's and he sets off with the money. Following in his wake however is an man sent to recover the money, Anton Chigurh, for whom "evil" is much more than a concept. Far behind both of them is aging sheriff Ed Tom Bell, who can only wonder at the daily violent outrages he has to witness.
Many others have already said it so I can only echo when I say that this is a real return to form for the Cohen brothers after a handful of amusing but yet not that good films including The Lady Killers, Intolerable Cruelty and so on. In something of a marriage made in heaven, the Cohens and author Cormac McCarthy have produced a great film out of what simply could have been a "everyman dragged into job gone wrong" thriller if it had been given to anyone else. It is impressive how they still work within this genre and produce more than expected while also still working effectively in the areas one would expect such a film to do. I have listened to those who claim it was boring and far too slow and I am afraid I just cannot really understand the point of view  far less agree with it. Likewise I have watched those leaving the cinema ten minutes from the end, I can only assume because with Llewelyn dead then the "plot" is closed for them and they might as well beat the traffic.
On the contrary, for me this film worked across so many levels that I cannot imagine leaving at any moment other than the end, and even then the film will stay around for longer than that. The slow pace never feels anything other than appropriate as it is either doing or of two things, or both. The opening and closing scenes are a fine example of how meditative it all is and this suits the pace. The film is thoughtful on the subject of violence and evil, with the title and the material questioning whether things are worse or just different (cleverly it is also set in the eighties). I found this fascinating even if I didn't understand all of it. Working alongside this is the constant tension associated with the main plot. It is unbearably tense at times and the slow pace only serves to heighten this and make the moments of sudden violence all the more impacting. With these two things working so well together I really had zero issue with the slow pace.
The Cohen's delivery is note perfect throughout with the characters and places being just that little bit quirky but not to the point where the violence or menace is affected in the slightest. They pace the material and perfectly balance the gripping with the thoughtful. I particularly liked the way that they handled scenes of violence  while thrilling, the viewer is never "pumped up" by them or excited but rather sickened or just plain deadened. It suits the material again and somehow seeing the casual aftermath of, for example, Carla's death, is so much more meaningful than seeing it occur. The cast respond well to this direction and turn in solid performances across the board. Brolin (who suddenly seems to be in everything) is a firm "everyman" character who we root for but not to the point where we lose the other two main characters. Jones is perfectly still and reflective and his "good ol' boy" mannerisms are underlain with an increasing sense of bewilderment and frustration that makes his scenes work so much better  which was important. The most impacting turn comes from Bardem, who simply personifies evil with a performance that made me want to edge away from him, far less the other characters. His scenes sparkle with menace and he represents everything that Jones' character worries over  even a simple scene in a garage is gripping due to his delivery and simple logic. Trainspotting's Macdonald gives a great performance and a great accent in her role, with a great scene late on. As per Cohen tradition, the smaller characters are amusingly quirky and fit the Texan world of small towns, with motel owners and so on all amusing in their (often fatal) interactions with the main players. Special mention for Harrelson who is so-so for much of it but is utterly convincing when he finds himself totally out of his depth in this world he tried to be in (his offer of $14k as telling as his reddening skin and panicked eyes).
At the end the tone is downbeat but for me it is fitting as we close as we opened, on a meditative slant, sending the audience away thinking. It is a quite remarkable film that manages to be thoughtful but yet unrelentingly tense producing quirky amusement in some scenes but never at the expense of the impact of the violence, which is terrifying offhand at times. No Country for Old Men stands above the recent output from the Cohen's and easily stands alongside their greatest work such as Blood Simple, Fargo and so on.