I don't get the hype over this movie.

Rating: 5/10 (18 February 2008)

Talk about a movie not living up to its promise. I finally went to see "No Country For Old Men" because so many people were waxing eloquently about how wonderful it is and how deep and meaningful, I felt like I had to see it for myself. And while it's well-made, it's not the Coen Brothers' best or even most meaningful film. Not by a long shot.
The story is simple -- a man stumbles onto a pile of loot and decides to keep it, and all hell breaks loose, with bodies racking up left, right and sideways. And that's all there is to it. Yes, this story has wide open "Texas" landscapes (mostly shot in New Mexico) and taciturn heroes (a sheriff who's seen too much and a cowboy who thinks he's smarter than he is) and a "really nasty" villain who somehow manages to wander around with this huge cow-killer thing but not get caught by the Texas Rangers (preposterous) or even get noticed by the locals or chased or anything, even though he starts the story off by strangling a deputy fool enough to turn his back on him. Granted, this is set in 1980 and they didn't have the insta-communication we have today...but the casualness people in this movie have towards a COP BEING KILLED? In Texas?! Puh-lease! But that's just the beginning. From that point on, we're treated to a non-stop series of incidents where absurdity is piled onto ludicrous blindness and stupidity is mixed in, all in the name of making some "grand statement" about the sadness of violence and evil and Latino-devils. I sat there numbly watching this movie just keep going and going like some EveryReady Bunny ignoring its illogical storyline...and finally all I could wonder is, "Why do people think this is so damn good?" Seriously, the Coen brothers did a ten-times better version of the story in "Fargo," and nailed every point they wanted to make about violence and greed.
On the good side, Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones and Kelly Macdonald did wonders with barely written roles (especially seeing as how Kelly's Scottish). The cinematography was fantastic. The sound brilliant. But I don't get the wild praise for Javier Bardem's killer, Chigurh; it seemed very one-note to me. However...I did find it interesting he's the most honorable man in the group, the only one you can count on to keep his word. Woody Harrelson and Tess Harper were wasted. As for the ending that people seem to think is a let-down or just trails off into "huh," to me it made perfect sense...considering how I feel about the rest of this meaningless movie.
Of course, it'll probably win the Oscar, thanks to all the hype. But if you want to see a well-done film about money and violence and good men making horrible decisions that have disastrous consequences and the evil man chasing them, check out Sam Rami's "A Simple Plan" (which must be where Cormac McCarthy got his idea for his book). You get a LOT more meaning and none of the hype.