The Story Is A Sad Waste

Rating: 5/10 (12 January 2009)

I have been a fan of the Coen Brother's work, especially "Fargo" and "Blood Simple" and "The Big Lebowski". These movie are innovative and entertaining. I wish I could say the same for "No Country for Old Men", but then I would be lying. This movie was a complete waste.
That doesn't mean everything was bad. The execution was handled nicely, the cinematography looked stunning, and the acting was top notch. But the story led to no direction and I started to to become pretty irritable at what I was observing. The story, not once showed any signs of sympathy towards the characters. The bad guys seem to outwit the good guys in everything making them unstoppable. I like it when the good guys win, clichÃ©d yes, but I would've liked to see justice served much better. I wanted to leave the theater so badly, but I bought the ticket and I was hoping for something unpredictable to happen. It never did!
I ask myself, what was going through the Coen's heads to make an adaptation of this very disturbing novel. No insult to Cormac McCarthy, but through reading this book, the subject matter was too drab, cynical, and not very supportive of this dreary cause. The shooting of this film is noteworthy that it's set in blinding daylight. Not my idea of entertainment.
This is storytelling at its worst. The ugliness of this story is too much for me to handle. I advise you to avoid this movie at all costs. In the end you'll thank me for it.