I just didn't get it

Rating: 1/10 (29 February 2008)

On a detour from my normal way of starting, I like a lot of things. I like ice cream. I like plot. I like good acting. This movie had none of the above.
No Country for Old Men, at least for me, was a bad use of two hours. The only point in the movie seemed to be that Tommy Lee Jones didn't like the direction the country was going. The action, the money, the chasing just didn't fit.
This may be an excellent book, but I didn't go to the theatre to read a book; I go to see movies. I shouldn't have to read the book to understand the plot of a movie.
There has been a lot of tout around Javier Bardem; I simply don't see it. He did a good job, but not Oscar worthy. Jones made me happy with his presence, but it seemed like he was there for his face, not what he added to the screen. Woody and Root - why were they there? They had no place. The guy that "Sugar" made choose in the coin toss - he wasn't needed. The chase in the beginning, the dog, the air gun. It's like they took the most random things they could find and threw them into a script.
Overall, this may be the best adaptation of a book ever to grace the silver screen, but if an educated member of your audience is left going "Huh?" then you have failed as a movie. Props to Roger Deakins - great shots, but even the cinematography can't pull No Country for Old Men out of the toilet for me. 1 out of 10.