The Cohen Brothers Strike Gold with another Winner...

Rating: 8/10 (18 April 2009)

Joel and Ethan Cohen brought home the Academy Award for Best Picture of 2007 with NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, a dark and chilling suspense thriller which takes the classic cat and mouse chase genre to an entirely new level. The film stars Josh Brolin, in his finest performance to date, as a schnook who happens upon the remains of a brutal crime scene, where he finds several dead bodies, a huge shipment of heroine, and a case containing two million dollars and the consequences of his fatalistic decision to take off with the money, prompting his being hunted by a cold-blooded assassin (Jarvier Bardem), who will stop at nothing to get his money back. Throw in a laid back Texan sheriff (played to perfection by Tommy Lee Jones)assigned to the case and you have all the ingredients of a first class thriller. This gritty and uncompromising drama pulls no punches and offers no easy solutions to a myriad of questions it raises, most notably, "Did this guy really think he could get away with stealing two million dollars?" The film is dark and atmospheric, creating such a height of suspense that there is virtually no music score and you really don't miss it. The suspense created by the story propels the film itself. Jarvier Bardem won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his bone-chilling performance as Chagur, the deadly and apparently conscience-free killer chasing Brolin. Bardem creates one of the most terrifying cinematic villains ever, whose brutality is only surpassed by his unpredictability. The Cohens have crafted an intricate story that does peter out toward the end, but for the majority of its running time, will have you literally holding your breath. Not quite up the standards of their classic FARGO, the film is still practically a classic that improves upon repeat viewings and reinforces Joel and Ethan Cohen as filmmakers to be reckoned with.