missed masterpiece

Rating: 6/10 (28 April 2008)

The movie could have been a true masterpiece but instead it came out only solid - leaving some viewers not quite satisfied because of its promising first half. The killing of the main character happened too easily and too unnoticed, not clear what actually happened. Since the film was built up to follow the leading character, there should have been a more dramatic showdown. The sequence when the sheriff goes back to the scene of the crime was directed to seem important but the result left me guessing. At the end it wasn't quite clear who had the money, one could only assume it was Chigurh. After the shooting of the main character the film lost (or changed) its rhythm. I don't agree with some of the viewers that the very ending of the movie was bad; it was the whole last third of the movie that seemed to have changed its style. The end itself didn't disturb me. I had to read the book (which, by the way, is fabulous) to make up my mind what to think of the movie. A lot of people wrote that the movie was a very accurate adaption of the book. I don't agree. Maybe the atmosphere and the actors (which are great) are well transformed into a movie. But the film leaves out passages that are essential for better understanding: In the book the leaving out of the killing of the protagonist is better motivated and the scene where the sheriff goes back to the hotel is explained and resolved. We get to know more about Chigurh who is clearly not a real person but a symbol, a Punisher for the Greedy America. The sheriff (the main character of the book) and his monologues lead us through the book. In the movie they seem either too short (in the beginning) or too long(in the end) -there is not a good balance between the action and the philosophical scenes. It's a pity that the message of the story couldn't be fully understood because of the uneven pace of the movie and the badly cut storyline.
I can understand people who say it's a great movie- they don't have the heart to rate it worse because they feel it had the potential and should have been a great one. Maybe the Director's Cut will prove them right.
Rating: 6