Understanding this movie without spoilers

Rating: 7/10 (21 January 2008)

A lot of people dislike this movie when they see it first. I confess to being a bit shocked by it myself and left the theatre feeling a bit bleak.
However, this is precisely what is intended by the writer.
Anyone who has not read the book will be surprised and probably confused by certain events in the film. It is not that it is ambiguous per se, but it does not follow the conventional thriller/pursuit movie narrative, even if it appears to at first. If you are confused or a bit disappointed after viewing this movie, you are not an idiot or Philistine. It is a great movie, but there are problems with transferring it from book to screen, despite it being very faithful to the text. Firstly, the dialogue is one of the best things about the movie and unlike in a book where you can re-read a paragraph if you missed something, in a movie theatre once it is gone, you can't rewind. The opening and closing monologues are the most important parts to pay attention to and again, because it is a movie, you may not see the closing monologue coming or you may not be paying enough attention to it when it comes.
Again dialogue is more important in a book than a movie, where everything is highly visual. A movie like this can suck you in with its violence and suspense, so you start to ignore the dialogue, or at least let it wash over you.
That said here is a guide to understanding this movie to those who have not yet seen it.
Sheriff Bell is the principle character and he is only one given dialogue or monologue of more than a couple of sentences at a time. He is near to retirement and reflects on his life as a law officer at a time when crime has become so bad he describes it as a "war". In the opening dialogue, Sheriff Bell says "Somewhere out there, there is a true and living prophet of destruction and I don't want to confront him. I know he's real. I have seen his work." This is important, remember this. So you know it is coming, there is a closing monologue about his dreams, which you can find in the quotes section of this title.
Llewellyn Moss is a hunter who stumbles on a drug deal gone wrong in the desert and makes off with $2M he finds on a dead drug dealer.
Anton Chigurh is a killer hired to track down and recover the money.
The rest of the action is concerned with this pursuit and its consequences.
After this I will say no more about the plot, except that to say that if you are expecting Llewellyn Moss's great adventure, or a grand showdown between the good guy and the bad guy you will be sorely disappointed. This film is bleak and uncompromising. There may be a buried message of hope but it is communicated by allegory and allegory is not something we are used to seeing on screen. Like all great movies, it gets better with a second viewing.