Both works, the book and the movie, are definitely not a convenient form of entertainment as they make their audiences work for it. And if they do, it's cathartic.

Rating: 8/10 (28 July 2008)

With literary and cinematic accolades under its buckle, "No Country for Old Men" is a fascinating renovation on the western genre. With westerns habitually, they are predisposed to scrutinize various circumstances that authenticate the protagonist's sense of right and wrong. In this parable, it pioneers a character, Anton Chirguh, as an icon of the lack of ethics, that it simply twists everything out of proportion, shaking everything on its way. Both works, the book and the movie, are categorically not a convenient form of entertainment as they make their audiences work for it. And if they do, it's cathartic.
Set in 1980's Texas, a retired welder named Llewelyn Moss inadvertently stumbles upon a drug trade gone wrong. He finds a satchel full of bills, totaling to about 2 million dollars -- enough temptation for him to keep it. Trouble is, people who own the money wants it back fast, employing a hit man named Anton Chirguh, a character whose morality is close to zero and even uses virtue as an excuse to keep on his violent rampage. Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, an old timer and last on a generation of county sheriffs is on the case. With a labyrinthine con lined with unjustifiable violence, this shakes his notion of goodness to the very core.
Written by Cormac McCarthy, the novel definitely has this trademark fashion that may require a lot of effort to value. Each chapter starts with a stream of consciousness from Bell, nostalgic about his time as a Sheriff, when times and circumstances were comprehendible to him. The way that McCarthy writes for the rest of the novel is pretty similar to writing a script as he skimps on description and focuses on dialogue. He definitely has an amazing eye on tongue and this style instantly raises the sense of urgency the novel exudes even if some scenes span days between them.
With that, the Coen Brothers have easily loyally adapted the book to the screen. They were able to capture the essence of the novel within a 2 hour run time. Special kudos on the casting too as it is quite impossible to see other thespians hovering over these characters. Anton Chirguh is personified brilliantly by Javier Bardem, Oscar award and weird haircut in tow. With the first half of the film almost a carbon copy of the novella, the second half is where the Coens start to take liberty. They have reduced the Carson Wells (Woody Harrelson) character and even almost immediately eliminated the female hitchhiker Moss met by subbing her with another motel customer seducing him with alcohol. Both decisions were pretty smart, as I could imagine how they could have easily slowed down the pacing of the movie. However, there were some ideas instantly detached from the film and I guess this will be left for the book readers to discover.
In the novel, a scene between Moss and the female hitchhiker becomes a standout. At a diner, both characters chatter about the past and how it eventually catches up. Moss laments about the illusion of starting over and its futility. This was a pretty poignant scene as it highlight's Moss' regret and how he acknowledges that what he did can't be undone. On the other hand, in the film, the conversation between Chirguh and Carla Jean seem to not loose its luster. The scene basically highlights Chirguh's motivation for murder: to preserve his image as a character that doesn't hesitate.
"No Country for Old Men" is definitely an intriguing story of morality. It teases its audience of hopelessness by making the last sheriff of a long line of county sheriffs quit in the face of an Anton Chirguh. But then, it leaves the audience with a small glimmer of hope by reminding them that Chirguh is still indeed human and can expire, punctured by his own bone. Both works are very compelling and can exist without each other. At its surface, it seems like a celebration of violence however it gets richer with time and will further reveal what it's really celebrating about.