A movie that's both art and entertainment; absolutely terrific

Rating: 10/10 (29 September 2010)

No Country for Old Men became my favorite movie of all time instantly. It is so close to being the perfect film with it's immense amount of suspense, solid dialog and it's meaningful characters that develop the movie's theme.
The western background creates an excellent setting for this movie. The opening sequence is great as it shows all the landscape of Texas. A monologue takes place and sets up the western feel. And how can that southern accent be unlikable? It's appealing and contributes to the western atmosphere.
The characters work because they are very well portrayed by splendid actors with a screenplay of crisp dialog. The dialog is out of the everyday life. There are no punts, no one liners but good, short yet stylish dialog. The three main characters slightly remind me of the ones in the Good the Bad and the Ugly. The whole movie is a three man chase and from the movie we all know that they are all very intelligent characters. The characters are easy to be hooked on. Anton Chigurh is the perfect villain; fair yet homicidal. Moss can be a greedy man yet has a soft spot from time to time. And finally Ed Tom is a man who does not understand the cruelty of the present world. The trio create a perfect combination.
No Country for Old Men is an outstanding thriller and is a role model to future neo-western thrillers. It stays true to it's source material and shows it's true meaning that the book wanted to convey which makes this movie an excellent piece of art. While the movie is criticized for ending abruptly, again it's staying true to its source material.
This movie is crazy. It keeps you in suspense throughout and when it's over it makes a good transition into developing it's theme. There is almost no music and when it comes to an intense situation, it's completely silent, creating more suspense. There are not many violence depicted in the movie but the things that happen off screen are disturbing, creating a mental image. The Coen brothers do a fantastic job of keeping true to the thriller genre.
There's not much to say when it comes to the effects. I felt that everything was authentic. There are some bits of good gore that portray the necessary violence. Every violence in this film has a purpose unlike a bottom material action film. The violence contributes to the film's theme.
Because this is a Coen brothers film, it has some dark comedy. The hair of Anton Chigurh is one of the primary examples. You'll see a lot of this during the film yet the movie never loses it's seriousness.
This is the comeback of the western genre and a great adaptation of one of the greatest books on humanity. The movie is filled with philosophy, thought provoking questions. This is the classic film people will look back to in the future. No Country for Old Men is an upgrade from all the previous Coen brother movies; it's more modernly done in a positive way yet feels like their movie. The Coens have shown us an example of what cinema should be like: art.