don't try to outsmart a psychopath

Rating: 7/10 (26 November 2007)

I am judging this movie without having read the novel (and of course, the movie should stand on its own). I'd say that this is really a B-movie about a psychopathic criminal, albeit a good B-movie. Javier Bardem is wonderful as a psychopathic killer. He is scary as hell, with his bizarre weapon: an air gun (typically used to kill cattle). The best part of the movie is the cat and mouse game between Bardem and Brolin. Bardem is very intelligent (as psychopaths usually are), but Brolin is pretty smart himself. Of course, the big mistake Brolin makes is that he thinks he can actually pull it off to steal 2 million dollars from Bardem. Bardem portrays an exceptionally interesting psychopath, but I have seen too many psychopath movies to really appreciate it. Woody Harrelson is also wonderful as a bad-ass bounty-hunter. It was really a shame that he was killed prematurely. The epilogue by Sheriff Tommy Lee Jones suggests a deeper meaning in all the events. He feels deeply frustrated by the injustice that the psychopath Javier Bardem is still a free man. The movie ends with the sheriff trying to come to terms with his lack of power to catch Bardem. I don't share the sheriff's pessimism. A person like Bardem leaving such a bloody trial would soon make it to the "most wanted list" and the feds would pull out all resources to catch a guy like that. In the whole movie it seems like just the sheriff and his dimwit deputy who are looking for Bardem.