Is Evil good?!?!?

Rating: Null/10 (3 December 2007)

Bleakness, hopelessness and profound despair where the salient characteristics of this movie. It was, to say the least, a disturbing experience watching this film. It is also one of the best movies in recent years, one that once again reiterates how important the Cohen brothers are to movie-making, especially in a time when the medium is drowning in mediocrity and banality.
There is a stark and barren beauty to this movie, which is brutal, shocking and jarring at times. There is absolutely no redemption in it, and hardly any sympathetic characters. The only one, who is tired and weary, and trying to preserve some shred of humanity in a world gone crazy, is Tommy Lee Jones but he fails just as one of his friends in the movie says "You can't stop what's coming...".
Well what's coming is the walking, talking, breathing embodiment of evil in the form of Javier Bardem. To say that Bardem has created one of the most memorable "bad guys" in movies, is an understatement. I simply have no words to describe what this man brings to the screen. Basically a guy who is what he is, accepts it and goes about his business because that's what he does, not because that is what it is expected from him. Javier Bardem's character, Anton Chigurh, is not trying to be menacing, or to be evil, remorseless, psychopathic, that's what he is, and he makes no apologies. There is no philosophy behind it, no explanation, he just is... The only other characters that come to mind in comparison are Ian McShane's amazing portrayal of "Al Swerengen" from the extraordinary "Deadwood" and Kevin Spacey's "Keyser Soyze" from "The Usual Suspects". I'll be hard pressed to think of a better performance, acting wise, this year, with the exception of Russel Crowe and Denzel Washington in "American Gangster". This guy is unbelievable, ever since I saw him in "Jamon, Jamon", "Carne Tremula/Live Flesh", "Las Bolas De Oro/Golden Balls", "Before Night Falls", "El Mar Adentro/The Sea Inside" he has proved to be one of the top actors world wide. This role is just a further confirmation of his talent and range. Come awards season if he doesn't win anything, it will just confirm that awards suck and cannot measure ability of any kind.
***SPOILERS***
Evil wins in this movie, period, and all that stand in the way die, with one exception Tommy Lee Jones, who just capitulates and gets out of the way. I think that that is what has given such a drab and dreary tone to the movie, that lack of hope and the senselessness of it all. I also think that the movie deliberately avoids too much tension and nervousness, but instead presents this chilling, matter-of-fact atmosphere that takes away that perverted pleasure to revel in the bloody and gory outcomes, unlike for example in the movie "300" where the blood and gore are amped up and actually become disturbingly fascinating, effective and well executed. "No Country For Old Men" is the complete opposite and puts a different spin on the nature of evil and violence.
***End of SPOILERS***
The cast is very good, Woody Harelson is good and provides perhaps the few moments of comic relief, if such a thing is even possible in this movie, and Josh Brolin continues to impress with his acting abilities, he can also be seen in "American Gangster". Tommy Lee Jones is finally back in form and has exalted his career once again, after a few years of floundering. "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada", and this year "In The Valley of Ellah" and now this movie, the man has racked up a lot of impressive performances. His role in "No Country For Old Men" is way better than the one in "The Fugitive", and I'll be damned if he doesn't deserve his just deserts.
The Cohen brothers have once again delivered in spades, and I personally think that this movie is better than "Fargo", and at least as good as "Miller's Crossing". I don't want to get into the technical details of the movie, but the cinematography is beautiful and rightly captures the spirit of the movie.
I have not read the novel, but I would venture to guess that this big-screen adaptation is more than a decent one. A movie I'll not soon forget.