half brilliant, half silly

Rating: 6/10 (17 February 2008)

This film seems to have the same central flaw as almost every other Coen Brothers film I've seen Â– it builds up fascinatingly and meticulously with great visual flair and originality, and then abandons the plot in favor of silly or wispy resolutions that aren't worth the time spent getting to them. The Man Who Wasn't There and Barton Fink come to mind. Secondly, these brothers are still writing "quirky" dialogue that calls attention to itself. I suppose it's "clever" but what else? Or is "clever" enough? I guess so, if the critical praise for this effort is any indication. I am reminded of some of David Lynch's villains who talk in cryptic riddles Â–but Lynch deals with dreamscapes and the Coen Brothers are supposed to be in reality. And finally, here we have yet another serial killer / slasher / scary monster genre movie in which violent and explosive scenes of murder and mayhem occur in populated environments (a motel, a hotel, an office building in broad daylight, etc.) but no one except the central players are seen, no one calls the cops, no one intervenes, no one is around at the crucial moment Â– too easy and way too common as filmmakers seem to feel a need to maintain a high body count to keep the audience interested. The overall effect is cartoonish. After a while I was squirming in my seat from boredom, less and less concerned with the fates of the main characters.
I was glad to see Kelly Macdonald (so memorable as Maggie Smith's long suffering and noble maid in Gosford Park) play a Texan, especially late in the story when out of the blue she shows some insight and intelligence. Josh Brolin as her rough but gentle Viet Nam vet husband matched her all the way Â– fine actor. Javier Bardem as the unstoppable Frankensteinish killer is truly frightening. But there is little substance beneath the cleverness and I am wondering if the strong points of this film come from the novel upon which it is said to be closely based. If any message is to be derived, it is that as time passes our society gets more and more violent and therefore this is "no country for old men," but hasn't the old "what's the world coming to?" idea been around since the beginning of civilization?