Don't waste your time

Rating: Null/10 (23 April 2011)

In "No Country for Old Men" Josh Brolin plays "Llewelyn Moss", a man who stumbles on the scene of a shoot-out between Mexican drug dealers and ends up finding $2 million dollars which end up being bugged. Javier Bardem plays "Anton Chigurh" the psychopathic killer who is sent after Lleweln to retrieve the stolen money, but leaves a trail of bodies that no one seems able to follow. Tommy Lee Jones plays "Sheriff Ed Tom Bell" who has been the sheriff in this West Texas area since he was 25 years old and is saddened by the amount of violence that is starting to manifest in this peaceful area. This movie is nothing special in my opinion. Not sure if this is supposed to be a thriller or some kind of crime drama but its plot is shallow. As I've never knowingly seen any movies by the Coen brothers I cannot compare this to anything else they have done. This movie is similar to many of the other one that have a good guy who isn't a good guy who does something that makes someone angry and a bad guy who is the baldest of the bad who is after him. Since all the action in this film happens at night, the lighting is supposed to make it seem more suspenseful. When the two trucks come to the top of the ridge without their lights on with the sunrise behind them is probably the best scene in the movie. The use of indirect lighting gives the scenes a more surreal appearance and it makes it them somewhat believable. The shootout in the middle of the street is also decent except if you're shot in the leg with a shotgun you aren't moving well enough to disappear that fast. Also when you blast a shotgun in the middle of a small town street, no matter what time, someone is going to come out and take a look. In almost all of the gunshot scenes is the viewer the target of the blast. Every time someone is shot up close the camera is looking down the barrel of the gun. This makes me feel like I've done something wrong by watching the movie in the first place. Then there is the splatter effect from the gunshot, they all looked the same and if there is splatter there should be bullet holes to go along with it, in my opinion. There is no real reason to even have Sheriff Bell in the movie since he doesn't really play an important role. All he does is give some commentary on how violent the world is becoming and how old he is getting. His "woe is me: attitude brings any action build up to a staggering halt. Although parts of the movie are pretty dramatic, it is predictable and the overall lack of plot development keeps this from being a movie to be watched over and over. I recommend it for a rainy afternoon when you want to take a nap.