Your call, friendo.

Rating: 9/10 (27 February 2008)

Movies that stimulate plenty of discussion about whether they are good or bad or awful are probably movies that should be seen more than once. I had that feeling after seeing films like '2001: A Space Odyssey' and 'The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.' Not much really happens in those movies and they have a lengthy runtime. Kubrick's film has 88 minutes of no dialog. That's like making a feature length film and not having any spoken dialog, and by today's standards (even 1968 standards) that is odd. The Coen Brothers' latest film has that quality to it. Not a whole lot happens for large parts of the film.
The fact of the matter is that not a whole SEEMS to happen. Take one of the opening scenes as Llewelyn sees the man sitting underneath the tree. He looks at him, nothing. He looks again, nothing. He moves in closer, rifle trained, nothing. He sees the man has bled. The bag next to the dead body has money, a lot of money. So he takes it. Aesthtically, not much happens as Llewelyn just warily approaches the tree. Mentally, however, is where the action is. Llewelyn is part afraid, part curious, but being cautious enough to keep his wits and try not to get killed. Obviously from the previous scene we see that the money in question is a hot item and a good deal of people died for it.
In today's special effects drenched age people seem to have completely forgotten what real tension and suspense is. It is not a huge wall of fire (a la 'Independence Day') coming at you, but what is going through your head when you see that wall of fire coming. With this film, the Coens have put the tension in an intentionally bare landscape in order to show as little aesthetic flair as possible. This amplifies the psychological impact and suspense as there seems to be nowhere for Llewelyn to hide from a killer who also seems to appear from nowhere. Call it a MacGuffin technique or whatever floats your boat.
The film is also highly more symbolic than the typical movie of today. Many things are implied, not actually shown. Much of the dialog and situations are allegorical (or applicable) to things much more general than a search for dirty money. Thus, this isn't a film solely for entertainment, which is what people want today (many people, not all). This is a film that first and foremost attempts to stimulate thought like '2001' and 'The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.' The abundant discussion here about whether it was good or bad or boring or pointless pretty much seems to confirm just that. People are talking about it. Whether it is out of frustration of praise is almost incidental, since it only confirms that the Coens achieved their goal. Maybe soon we'll see a director(s) make an actual film in response to this one. That is what living art is all about - it acts and reacts, just like its characters. --- 9/10
Rated R for violence. Ages 13+