Best film of the Decade

Rating: 10/10 (15 May 2010)

As I sat in the theatre, about halfway through No Country for Old Men, I distinctly remember whispering to the person next to me this was Oscar gold. Little did I know that he was asleep. If nothing else, it just goes to show how peoples tastes vary, but I cannot imagine how anyone could fall asleep. This is a film that gets you hooked from scene one, and right until the ending, it is steeped in suspense, black humour, great direction and acting and it ain't afraid to get its hands dirty.
Based on Cormack McCarthy's novel, No Country for Old Men dictates one simple truth. There is evil in the world, there always has been and there always will be. The previous generation of crime fighters including Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) are no match for a new generation of criminals, at the start of a new decade (the eighties). One such criminal is Anton Chigurth, who kills people with a pneumatic air gun. This strange fella is going after two million dollars in drug money which has been stolen by Llewelyn Moss. He is an ordinary Texan who just happens to stumble upon the after math of a drug deal gone wrong in the middle of the desert. He finds the money, and tries to figure out how to get him and his wife clear and safe. Meanwhile, the Mexican drug dealers, The Law, and Chigurth are all coming after him.
It is all the little details in the film which are what contribute to its high quality. I'll give you a great example. No Country for Old Men, is sucked almost completely dry of music. In one or two scenes, there is a very soft synthesizer drone, but the silence is far more potent. Alfred Hitchcock with the Birds was the last time I saw a music-free feature film.
No Country for Old Men is not for the soft of heart, or the squeamish, but it will be embraced by anyone and everyone who can appreciate great cinema. Though unfortunately it is not a very popular movie (or at least it wasn't when it came out), I have a feeling No Country for Old Men will age well.