A Pearl Amongst Swine

Rating: 8/10 (23 January 2008)

Just recently my enthusiasm for contemporary cinema has been waning. Clever, but formulaic scripts, contrived plots, and painting by number incidents. Then something comes along which shakes all that up -and "No Country For Old Men" does that.
The cinematography is lush, the desert settings evocative, and the key characters get a very welcome chance to breathe for once.Its style pays homage to the great westerns, and Tommy Lee Jones as veteran Sheriff, Ed Tom Bell lends an elegiac, "fin de siecle" feel to proceedings.
The violence is graphic and bloody,the script wordy,reflective and wry,but the Coen brothers show a discipline throughout which Tarrantino would do well to note.The gruesome slaughter which pervades this film is shown in a wholly amoral manner. Life and death a matter of chance - won or lost on the toss of a coin, both metaphorically and literally.
When required, the set piece action scenes never fail to disappoint. Equally there are spoken stretches where nothing much happens, other than enriching our appreciation of both character and plot, rare indeed.
The end is sudden, and requires careful attention to the opening, as well as the closing, monologue - and almost requires a second viewing, which is no bad thing.