Violence and murder are the main protagonists

Rating: 7/10 (23 April 2008)

Of course there is a plot but a weak one on purpose, to stress the violence and murder galore, some of them very gratuitous like it happens almost daily in that country where the movie was made, a country no good for old men (and not for young ones either). We are told the story of a bag of money and drug dealers by the Mexico - USA border but not much details are given about who the bosses are and the way the business takes. In this context the movie is well made and well acted. The Coen brothers always had a special predilection for anti-heroes like those here performed by Tommy Lee Jones the old but very wise sheriff and Kelly Macdonald the wife of the man who tries to run away with the money while chased by Javier Bardem (the psychopath killer). These both characters are the more balanced ones, the more "normal" if we can say so. The end of the movie (if it can be called a true end) proves what I said above i. e. that the plot is secondary here, just only a conducting thread of the various scenes and sequences. But this is a good movie in the genre, well directed and well acted in every detail like the Coen brothers have already accustomed us.