Blueprint for a film of quality

Rating: 10/10 (9 December 2007)

I was hooked when Llewelyn (Josh Brolin)ambled across the wide-open brush to track an antelope he'd failed to kill in one shot and came across other prey that had been successfully dispatched. Is he any better than the sinister Shirgurh (Bardem), failing to help a dying man asking for water, or watching "the last man standing" die under a shade tree? No Country gives us complex characters and a slow-drip plot spiced with shots of violence and humor. You recognize some patterns from Fargo--the wise Sheriff and his dolt deputy. And then the poor sap who really doesn't grasp the nature of the beast stalking him. The comic wife who is ultimately sacrificed because of the decisions of her spouse. But this is not cold, snowy Minnesota--it's a frontier, an old western frontier visited by the same kinds of violence that inhabited it originally. McMurtry's Lonesome Dove springs to mind--the evil stalking the frontier--Blueduck, or later, the blue-eyed Indian.
Most comment on Javier Bardem's force of evil performance. I myself found him too much like the mindless Jason of those 13th flicks who always gets up no matter how many bullets you pump into him and who always disappears into the night. The real character in this film is Llewelyn whose smarts aren't smart enough ultimately, whose simple plan turns out to be everybody's downfall. No matter what anyone says, this is Josh Brolin's film and his subdued, ego-less acting might fool you into thinking that Bardem stole the film from him...but its Brolin's role that leaves the taste in your mouth.
Tommy Lee Jones can do this type of role in his sleep. I would have preferred a more imaginative casting for the sheriff--Clint Eastwood would have been an intriguing choice, having to play an anti Dirty Harry.