Bardem was truly scary

Rating: 10/10 (19 August 2008)

I have been around scary people for much of my life and have scared a hell of a lot of people whom I think deserved to be frightened. I spent two years in Vietnam, worked in prisons, with alcoholics and addicts and mentally ill street people who occasionally, unmedicated, can get pretty worrisome. I've found myself on the wrong end of too many guns. A white guy, I've lived in ghettos. I've been around more than my share of heavily armed and angry drunks. I've been attacked with murderous intent in foreign countries and while riding a motorcycle on U.S. rural roads, a la Easy Rider.
Despite this, I can only think of a few instances in my life when I have been truly afraid, such as when I've fought a raging forest fire with middling chances of escape, and being in the middle of an ocean in a hurricane on a small ship.
I'm not someone who is easily able to suspend disbelief. I have found few science fiction movies of any interest, save for comedies such as "Mars Attacks." None have been fear provoking.
But sitting there with my wife in a darkened theater, I found Javier Bardem's portrayal of Anton to be truly a frightening and believable character. From his first encounter with a storekeeper, he was completely convincing. When he had the upper hand over a competitor assassin and he was described by the latter as "a psychopath," I thought, "Well, that sure fits."
The only thing I couldn't understand was the failure of a character (trying to avoid a spoiler here) to dare the coin toss. People cling so tightly to life, it seemed difficult to believe.
What a great movie. What great actors and directors.