An excellent film that bears all the Coen Brothers' hallmarks

Rating: 9/10 (21 June 2012)

"No Country for Old Men" is an excellent film. Written and directed by Ethan and Joel Coen, and based on a novel by Cormac McCarthy (which I haven't read), it is a stylish, bleak and brooding movie with undertones of a Western and of film noir and with an almost matchless evocation of time, mood, place and character. It is also surprisingly amusing in places.
Set in Texas in 1980 (the date can be pinpointed by one scene in the film in which a coin minted in 1958 is described as being 22 years old), it tells the story of Llewelyn Moss (played by Josh Brolin). Moss, a young veteran of the Vietnam War, is a welder by trade. He and his wife Carla Jean (Kelly Macdonald) have little money and live in a modest house trailer. While out hunting one day, Moss encounters the detritus of a drugs scam that has evidently misfired. There are several dead bodies and a number of abandoned vehicles strewn around the scene, as well as a dead dog. One of the vehicles contains a huge consignment of drugs. The money deriving from the deal - $2 million - is also there, in a briefcase next to a dead man. Moss thinks quickly and decides to purloin the cash. Unfortunately for him, that money is being sought by Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem). Chigurh is a ruthless, vicious, evil man, with psychopathic tendencies. He will happily and perfunctorily decide whether to kill or to spare someone literally on the toss of a coin. Chigurh carries a canister of compressed air around with him. He uses it, amongst other things, to help to break into premises. He also has a stun gun, with which he kills anyone who attempts to thwart him. It emits a cylinder into his victim's head and thrusts it back afterwards. Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) and his assistant are the law enforcement representatives who attempt to prevent Chigurh's murderous stalking of Moss.
"No Country for Old Men" is essentially about the complex nature of evil, as personified by Chigurh. He is cold, ruthless and unfeeling but also displays some (admittedly weird) principles in his behaviour. In one scene late in the film, he needlessly goes after Carla Jean precisely because he thinks such action is a matter of principle. Moss had earlier refused to compromise with him and to hand over the money even though Chigurh had said that Moss's failure to do so would result in his having to assassinate Carla Jean. Chigurh therefore feels duty bound to carry out his threat.
The cinematography, the screenplay and the direction are first rate, as is the acting. It would perhaps be invidious to single out any one particular member of the cast, given that everyone is so good. But, for me, Bardem is the star. His performance as Chigurh is astonishingly good. There is one distinctly memorable scene in which he confronts the owner of a gas (petrol) station in the middle of nowhere and chillingly plays mind games with him about whether he will kill him or not. That scene is brilliantly acted by Bardem (and by Gene Jones who plays the gas station owner).
"No Country for Old Men" is a classy, intelligent and entertaining film. It is a must-see. 9/10.