"Just how dangerous is he?" - "Compared to what? The bubonic plague?"(from the dialog about Anton Chigurh)

Rating: 9/10 (17 December 2007)

"No Country for Old Men" is a typical in the good sense Brothers Coens' film. In their new Crime /Drama / Western/Thriller, adapted from Cormac McCarthy's novel of the same title, Coens explore the subject they seem to be very interested in: the crime gone wrong, the temptations it promises, and how it involves and affects the basically good and decent people who suddenly find themselves running for their very lives with death just one step behind or even closer. It is bloody, gripping, extremely atmospheric, darker then dark, with the tension that makes your anticipation of the horrible things to happen even stronger than actually watching these things happen, and with typical for Coens humor that they find in the darkest places. If anything, the movie introduces the evil of such quiet, demented, determined, and meticulously deadly force in the character of Anton Chigurh in the performance of life time by Javier Bardem that it will set the new standards of the screen villain from now on. Bardem plays ruthless, slow speaking, coin tossing hit man who would always finish his job, keep his word, and follow his own twisted code of ethics. His favorite killing weapon is a pneumatic air gun and I am not sure when I was scared more, when Bardem used his weapon or when he politely talked and smiled with that blood freezing smile of his. I will be very surprised if Bardem does not receive the Oscar for his performance.
The film has infuriated almost as many viewers as it has satisfied with the unorthodox road it took somewhere 30 minutes before the ending. I can only say, if you want a nice and neatly wrapped up cool little thriller, go and see a Hollywood movie. "No Country for Old Men" is no country for predictable but if you want to see a movie you would not be able to stop thinking about way after it's over and you'd keep playing it in your head over and over, and wouldn't shake off its atmosphere, and couldn't forget its characters, go and see "No Country for Old Men - you may find yourself at home in that country of film-making.