Multifaceted

Rating: 10/10 (5 September 2008)

The focus of this complex film is on an aging Sheriff, Ed Tom Bell, who is working on the case of a drug deal that has gone very bad indeed--it has left several people dead and two million dollars up for grabs. When there is that kind of money on the loose there most likely will be several parties interested in its recovery, and here we have Llewelyn Moss (who accidentally happens on the money), a band of Mexicans (who delivered the dope), business investors, bounty hunters, and one Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem). All of these characters play an intricate cat and mouse game, but the three main players are Moss, Bell, and Chigurh.
The film has higher aspirations than being a typical crime thriller. It touches on the role that evil and fate play in our lives. These themes are particularized in the personal experiences of Ed Bell who can stand in for anyone who is old enough to remember a time when astonishing acts of violence seemed rare. At the scene of the drug deal Ed has witnessed a brutal massacre and he subsequently tries to track down Chigurh, one of the most amoral and evil killers ever put on the screen. Chigurh is particularly scary since he is intelligent and not obviously crazy.
Ed is astonished by what he perceives as a rise in a type of violence which he does not understand nor know how to deal with. He relates a gruesome story out of California that truly dumbfounds him, a story that provokes a laugh from his younger deputy. The rather downbeat message is that in the face of evil most people try to ignore it and go about their daily lives, but people like Ed feel overwhelmed and come to regard themselves as helpless bystanders. Perhaps the older one gets the more societal changes in the United States encourage one to feel like Ed, hence the title of the movie.
The location shots in west Texas are beautifully filmed. It is a harsh and spare landscape which has shaped the local inhabitants, they are direct and sparing of words. Whether you like this film will depend greatly on whether you like the lean dialog and deliberate pacing. For example, when Bell goes to visit his friend (relative?) Ellis he asks "How you been Ellis?" and gets the response, "You're looking at it." By appearances, Ellis is not doing too well. When Ellis makes the comment, "I got to say, you're looking older," Bell replies, "I am older." These lines are delivered with perfect pitch. But there is more substantial conversation. Ellis comments, "Well, all the time you spend trying to get back what's been took from you, more is going out the door." This pivotal scene between Bell and Ellis is a wondrous piece of work, accomplished actors delivering great dialog.
Then there is Javier Bardem who probably deserved his Oscar. What a versatile actor. Compare his performance in this movie with those in "The Sea Inside," and "Before Night Falls," and you become a believer in his talents. All the actors are perfectly cast.
The musical score is minimal and that seems to greatly accentuate the tension.
There are some classic scenes such as the exchange between Chigurh and a gas station attendant where a life depends on a coin toss. I am sure existentialists could make much of that scene. When he is not out for a deliberate kill Chigurh likes to play the game of tossing a coin to determine life or death. In the abstract Chigurh could represent the role of fate in our lives: an uncontrollable force lurking out there just waiting to change our lives in some unpredictable way. Chigurh himself is ultimately the victim of such a fateful event.
The final scene is powerful. After telling of a dream where his father appeared as protector and safety icon Bell comes back to reality to realize that he has no such protector and in fact is no longer of much use in this world, not even to his wife. When he realizes this his look of anguish is agonizing to watch.
I have see seven of the Coen brothers movies (including "Fargo") and this is the only one that has truly engaged me.