"No Country" uses simplicity to make brilliance

Rating: 9/10 (24 January 2008)

If there's one thing that the Coen brothers do best with their latest project "No Country For Old Men," it's prove to Hollywood that good crime films don't necessitate flashy action with awesome stunts or insanely intricate mysteries. This is also, in a sense, what the film speaks to.
"No Country" (which takes place in 1980) is about a man (Josh Brolin) who appears to be a poor southerner living in a trailer that comes across a drug deal gone wrong. He finds and takes a briefcase with a couple million inside. Little does he know that a serial killer (Javier Bardem) is on his trail and the film tells the story of this pursuit. Also in the background yet central to the film's ideas is the story of an old, small-time sheriff played by Tommy Lee Jones who is trying to follow their trail.
The Coen brothers make every shot count in the way these two men go about getting what they want and it's very straightforward--no tricks--there is nothing up the brilliant script's sleeve. In other words, what you see is exactly what you get with "No Country" and naturally the Coen brothers don't feel obligated to explain. It makes the film difficult to truly understand and appreciate with just one viewing, but once you stop worrying about what the characters are going to do and start paying attention to how and why they're doing it, that's when "No Country" really stands out as a film that undoubtedly speaks to this time and likely all time to come.