Disappointing movie? Yes, really!!!

Rating: 5/10 (10 March 2008)

As I read the reviews about this movie, they seemed to me divided into two groups: 0-2 stars rating or 9-10 stars rating. To be honest, I cannot belong to any of these groups. I am giving five stars as a movie worth just your money, but nothing more. I have seen three movies in last 14 days: There Will Be Blood, Vantage Point and NCFOM. Surprisingly, NCFOM was the worst one for me. Why?
After leaving the cinema on Saturday, I was deeply disappointed about this movie. According to reviews, regardless the Oscar, I expected great acting, strong characters, excellent plot and last but not least breathtaking cinematography. Sort of 9-10 movie. IMHO, it went 50:50.
Plot & Cinematography
The good think: Cinematography is great. No cheap studio images or wanna-be thrilling sequences from a chopper.
The bad thing: Plot The beginning itself proves the weakness of the plot. The first-class assassin Chigurh (Javier Bardem) caught by the local young sheriff. After next minutes of the movie watching Chigurgh's attitude to human beings , I realized this rookie sheriff was apparently the toughest guy from all.
Nevertheless, the first hour of the movie is really thrilling, even despite some typical "action scenes" man-car chasing or pit-bull shot by the river in very last second, both with Moss (Josh Brolin). In fact, the best part of the movie was clearly the events around hotels and motels during Brolin's getaway.
However, what the first hour promises, the further part cannot keep. Philosophical lectures of sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), although funny, somehow far away from the movie. Apart from lack of the real law enforcement in the story (you cannot always expect super cool FBI or DEA agents), you won't experience who or what was behind the wrong running drug deal or contracting Chigurh.
The last but biggest disappointment is the ending. I do not expect the good guy is the last man standing, however some kind of conclusion would be fine. Everyone is dead, the killer has shown human feeling and did not shoot two teenagers and Jones is drinking coffee
Acting & characters. Undoubtedly Javier Bardem as psycho killer Anton Chigurh is the evil of the season 2007/2008. I have remembered him from Collateral as Felix, small part but great performance. The way he is killing in NCFOM is more than obvious brutality mixed with insanity, although he acts like a killing ET (Predator type). You should not seek a real person behind. Someone may like it, someone not. But I did.
Josh Brolin is usually a quite underrated actor and I do not know why. I think he has proved in this movie his skill to play normal guys being in wrong time at wrong place. However, his character Llewelyn Moss leaves the story like a pit-bull he shot by the river, although he carried probably 50% of the movie. No one is expecting him to be last man standing, but his character required something else as the ending in my opinion.
The biggest disappointment in this movie is part given to Tommy Lee Jones as the old sheriff Ed Tom Bell. I admire this guy truly and his acting is great in NCFOM. Nevertheless, his pseudo-psychological character without being a real part of the story is like cut from other movie with no sense. As soon as Jones was on the screen, I had feeling it is like a commercial break during the sport event. No real involvement or effect on the story. Really wasting him for this role. The same applies for the role of Woody Harrelson.
Finally, when I was leaving the theater I met lot of people thinking: "Was that a movie, I expected?" My answer is no, it was not bad but nothing special. Compare to The Will Be Blood very poor