Over-analyzed and over appreciated, it starts out being one thing and then goes off into another world

Rating: 7/10 (10 February 2008)

People who watch these critical darlings really amuse me. They use words like "hauntingly flawed" or "beautiful and haunting" or "stayed with me for days." No Country For Old Men, at least the first hour and a half is main stream, well done, captivating, gory drama, thriller, action western and then the last half hour takes the film into this queer, nonsensical, blathering of artistic garbage that only someone who pretends to understand would care about. I do understand where they are trying to go with the film...the moral is...times have changed. Was that so hard to say? Instead they create an entire character, use a first class actor to portray him who does little to nothing in the entire film because artistically he's "washed up and tired of the world." It doesn't come across like that at all. The infamous Coen Brothers drop this interesting thriller/drama on you with this in depth creation of a serial killer who is just completely hell bent and disturbing and then they toss the entire story away on a disgustingly stupid and boring ending never giving closure to anything that they set up prior. I almost wonder if they did it on purpose as some sort of a cruel joke. I mean it feels like they got to a certain point in the film where they should have ended it but decided, 'no let's tack another 45 minutes on it but just ram whatever we come up with on to it.' As one IMDb reviewer pointed out...it feels tacked on and like a completely different movie.
Josh Brolin is really terrific as country man Llewelyn Moss. As we quickly discover Moss is not as country and as stupid as he might come across. In fact he's quick witted, honest, and a fast study. He turns out to be a formidable opponent to a killer who has never had a formidable opponent. Brolin is terrific in the role. A worthy hero whose character is demeaned by its ending. Javier Bardem...well if anyone actually deserves Oscar nomination for this film it might be him. Bardem plays steely cold, brutal and ruthless killer for hire and for fun Anton Chigurh. He is a strange and interesting character who we learn and know little to nothing about. He seems to like games, and he seems to be brilliant and subversive. His straight expressions and monotoned voice make him downright disturbing. The wasted actor on the pointless character I mentioned is the amazing Tommy Lee Jones who doesn't get to be very amazing as the tired, worn out old Sheriff Ed Tom Bell. Jones is a phenomenal actor but he's almost useless in this role. He stumbles around a crime scene or two intelligently pointing out facts and then spewing wisdom about how things have changed and then doing nothing else. Very unfortunate.
When it comes down to the very clever cat and mouse game between Brolin and Bardem, the film is brilliant. Bloody, and riveting and the story is starting to unfold but everything goes by the wayside. The key here is that so much of the story is unknown to us. An entire bloody battle over drugs has transpired and we know little to nothing about it. We only know this insane serial killer enters the picture and wants the money found and kept by Brolin's character.
*******SPOILERALERT**********
This is one time I can't help but spoil the film because I need to rant about it. The film goes down hill when, outside of the viewers sight, they cheaply kill off the main character of Llewelyn Moss, by Mexicans who also want the money. We don't see the kill...there is never any show down of any kind between Brolin's Moss and Bardem's Chigurh, and after that death the film literally just goes to pieces. However, outside of the horribly misplaced and mis-made ending, No Country For Old Men will likely impress you. It is shot in such a style that it feels like an old Western...the long, single shots and the gritty sand swept desert. Still fatal flaws make this one a poor choice by the Academy. 7/10