No Country for Old Men 2

Rating: 6/10 (30 December 2007)

I saw the trailer for this film while i was at the movies with a group of friends recently and the violence in that deterred everyone else in the group from going to see it. However i've always been a bit of a Coen brothers fan and i'd read the great reviews this movie has garnered and i was determined to overcome my general squeamishness in the face of unrelenting violence so i went to see it on my own. As it turned out the cinema was full of people most of whom i guess had read the same reviews as me. Or perhaps they'd decided to escape the unrelenting Adelaide heat by spending a few hours in the tranquility of an air-conditioned cinema. I have to say at the end that I think there was a general air of disappointment from everyone in the movie theatre. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what Tommy Lee Jones role IS in this movie. He could have been left out altogether and it would make no difference at all to the film. The ending where he describes his dream sequence is a terrible letdown. How many people enjoy listening to someone describe their dreams?Its about as interesting cinematically as it is in real life. When he finished I think everyone was hoping that this wasn't going to be the end of the movie...and then the credits began to roll. The movie does contain some wonderful quirky dialogue and some great acting from Javier Bardem. There are suspenseful moments while Josh Brolin in on the run and this is no formula driven plot where you can tell what is going to happen from one moment to the next. What it lacks is a coherent narrative and a sense of conclusion. Or is there a "No country for old men 2" in the offing?