Violence, Emptiness, and Flashes of Dark Humor

Rating: 8/10 (19 April 2008)

The Cormac McCarthy novel NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN is an ideal vehicle for the Coen brothers, who have used violence and emptiness laced with dark humor as an artistic aesthetic since the beginning of their careers--and although the setting and story are quite different it is very, very like FARGO in mood, style, and themes.
The story concerns Texan Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), who stumbles across the aftermath of a drug deal gone bad, takes the money, and runs. He is pursued by hit man Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem); both are pursued by sheriff Tom Ed Bell (Tommy Lee Jones.) Curiously, the film never allows any of the three men to meet; it instead follows their various paths toward and away from each other, paths that cross, diverge, and at times seem quite random.
Although the characters drive the story in the sense that they make the decisions they do because of who they are, the overall impression of the film is one of an initially calculated violence that becomes increasingly random as it progresses. There is no ultimate reason or deep meaning; just an open-ended emptiness of non-resolution and futility.
The cast is quite good, with Brolin, Bardem, and Jones perfectly cast and extremely believable in their roles; Kelly MacDonald, who plays the role of Llewelyn's wife, is particularly fine. The production values are also memorable. But like most Coen films, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN seems to skate on the surface of its story rather than offer it to us in depth--the idea, one presumes, to allow us to impose our own ideas upon its very carefully crafted blankness. In this instance it works more often than not, but it is extremely noticeable when it doesn't, and the film often reads as self-consciously quirky as a result.
The DVD contains three backstory documentaries including a "making of" piece; in truth, however, all three are of a piece. Recommended, but not to all tastes.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer