Slow Burn

Rating: 9/10 (18 January 2008)

It may be hard to remember the title of this movie, but impossible to forget it. It is one of those slow-paced movies that stays with you for a long time--kind of like a chili pepper that has no effect at first, but comes on slow and strong until it burns your mouth. Go see it with someone else so that you have someone to talk to about it--you will need to process the film for at least a couple of days afterwards.
I am a huge fan of the Coen brothers and was not at all disappointed with this film. What is interesting about it is the fact that there is virtually no music at all--it is a very quiet movie in between dialogue and quite frankly, from about 3/4's of the way in, I started getting confused about some plot points, but it doesn't matter because the film is so great you can forgive the confusion towards the end. Here is one question I have--who ended up with the money? I have a friend who read the book and gave me the answer from the book, but I certainly couldn't figure it out from the movie.
I read one reviewer who stated that this was Javier Bardem's best performance ever. I don't agree--he was much better in the "Sea Inside", but his performance was very good and he is one of the best actors that exists today. I was more impressed with Josh Brolin's performance--he was the lead character for over half of the movie and did a really good job. Tommy Lee Jones was also very strong throughout. The success of the entire film really falls on the back of these 3 main male characters, so their strong performances really come through. Woody Harrelson also held his own.
As stated in other reviews, the pace of this movie is quite slow, but very methodical. It is not as funny as "Fargo", although it is just as dark and does have some comedic moments in it, in the line of dark comedy or "black comedy".
If you like the Coen brothers, you will like this movie. If you have never seen a Coen brothers film, this would not be a bad place to start. Not many great female characters in this one, but I guess I will forgive that too.