Very faithful to the book, and even better

Rating: 9/10 (26 November 2007)

Writer Cormac McCarthy, he of few and common-man words in his latest books, weaves an anxious tale of West Texas crime, murder and deep mystery in this "who's going to go down hard" tale of rabbit and coyote, one running and the other chasing relentlessly for nearly the entire film. The story is basically this: Drug deal goes real bad, outsider finds money and runs, drug dealer hires killer to find the money and deal harshly with the interloper and anyone getting in the way. And he does this at times in the most creative fashion by using a slaughterhouse stun gun, of all things. (No more storyline here, as it has been revealed in detail in other reviews.)
The Coen Bros. nearly outdid their great success Fargo here, but humor mixed in with the mayhem and a classical musical score in Fargo made it a more satisfying story experience overall, IMO, than the almost pure evil and ill will toward innocent humanity that this story pounded at us relentlessly. And, as I remember it, there was no music at all in this film until the credits ran but that rare decision fit this harsh film well.
The magnificent Spanish talent Javier Bardem played Anton Chigurh, the single-minded psychopathic killer hired to chase down Josh Brolin's interloper character Lewellyn Moss, and he was as scary in looks, words and practice here as any screen heavy ever, and was positively blood-chilling in his brilliance. Bardem is a real masterpiece, as in The Dancer Upstairs he played a good man to the bottom of his soul in the face of abject evil, and in this film he was the exact opposite and even more effective. Both jobs proved his immense range and talent and that he is unquestionably at the very top of the list of the most talented international actors working today and easily the most memorable character in this film full of good ones.
Brolin's working class good looks and manner were perfect as a poor welder who found $2 million in drug money and a bunch of dead guys while he was out hunting antelope. He was just a regular guy living a meager life in a trailer with his overly dependent wife, who aggravatingly asked him endless and clueless questions in the way a 2 year old child does, and this found money represented his only way out of the deep hole he was in so he intended to do all it required to keep it.
Tommy Lee Jones, who played Sheriff Ed Tom Bell in the middle of the chase to catch up to both Moss and Chigurh, was as downhome terrific as only he can be playing a leathery Texas character. As a very savvy, old school, near-retirement lawman, he knew from the start that he was overmatched in this case and was merely spitting upwind against the hurricane of modern drug crime, often wondering aloud why and how it all happened and befuddled him in the process. He was getting old and nearly irrelevant in modern drug crime casework and he knew it, but he still almost got the job done due to good fundamental police work. And, while almost shocking in its abruptness, the film's ending implied that much of the crime committed in today's complex and ruthless drug world is realistically impossible to solve. The opponent is just too rich, powerful and persistent, but also more willing to go to all out bloody war at all costs to win.
As a result, if you need stories with feelgood Hollywood endings, see something else. But see this one if you want story and acting quality above all else.