A good film, but maybe just a tad over-rated?

Rating: 7/10 (3 July 2008)

A modern day Greek tragedy...without a flawed hero-more of a flawed anti-hero. Josh Brolin plays Llewelyn Moss the complex man with more than one flaw and with some of them being a bit contradictory. He opportunistically comes across a large sum of money after stumbling across a drug deal gone wrong and he makes away with it. Now, you could argue which flaw of his is the most culpable or primary, but in any case he ends up having to watch his back as he is now being pursued by a similary complex crime syndicate gun for hire-Anton Chigurh, played by Javier Bardem.
On the 'good guy' side of the equation is law enforcer Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, played by Tommy Lee Jones. He has to nut out exactly what transpired at the scene of the awry drug deal and how people fit into the puzzle.
This is a superior crime drama with fine, subtle performances by Brolin, Bardem and Jones. Garret Dillahunt as Sheriff Bell's sidekick, Deputy Wendell, provides some comic relief, as in the writers' other crime drama "Fargo". Kelly Macdonald, who plays Carla Jean Moss (Llewelyn Moss' wife) has a lovely, wifely Southern charm. The only false note in this film is by Woody Harrelson who plays Carson Wells, a peer of Chigurh, the man hunting Llewelyn. Harrelson seems to be playing a young Colonel Sanders or some such-a bit too showy for my liking.
It's the strangeness and surreality of the characters which makes this movie so appealing. You can't help wondering what certain characters were thinking-Llewelyn for instance...or the guy stopped by Chigurh when he is driving a police car "Would you stand still?"..what the? Come on man...if you saw Chigurh in that situation wouldn't you wonder....
There are some gory scenes in this movies but it's more of a dramatic thriller with great characters.
Since the performances were so wonderfully subtle, I can't say that any performance in this movie screams "Best Actor" Academy Award (unlike, say, Sean Connery in "The untouchables").
I enjoyed this film, but can't really say that it is the masterpieces it is being described as.