No Country For Old Men (2007)

No Country For Old Men (2007)

8/10

Starring

Tommy Lee Jones

Josh Brolin

Javier Bardem

Directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

Here’s a movie that deserved its Academy Award for Best Picture. No Country for Old Men isn’t just a masterpiece—it’s one that will be regarded as a classic in the future.

To make a great movie, you don’t always need A-list actors anchoring the screen. What you need is a good story, a great director, and dedicated actors ready to follow through.

When directors are also responsible for the screenplay, I personally think (with adequate financial backing) the result will most often be good. The movie will follow the path the screenwriter intends since they’re also the one directing.
The movie is based on the book of the same name by Cormac McCarthy. It was adapted and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, who also won Oscars for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.

The movie is about the repercussions of greed. Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) stumbles upon a bunch of dead bodies in the Texas desert. After looking around, he realizes the deaths were the result of a drug deal gone terribly wrong. He discovers a suitcase filled with money—and instead of taking some and calling the police (which is what I would’ve done)—he takes the money home with him. What he doesn’t know is that attached to that money is a hitman (Javier Bardem) with more than a few screws loose. The hitman has been sent to retrieve the money and kill anyone who knows about it.

Now, Moss is on the run from the cops, the Mexicans involved in the drug deal, and the hitman.

The Coen brothers made this movie with precision. Every scene is crafted to suit the tone of the story they wanted to tell, and by the end, you’ll be left astonished by the characters, wishing there was more. With all that said, the pacing can be slow, especially during the quieter moments where the tension drags without much forward movement. And while the characters are intriguing, they feel underdeveloped at times, especially when it comes to their motivations and backstories. Plus, the minimalism of the plot works in some ways but can leave things feeling a bit sparse, and the film’s bleak tone and limited dialogue also make it harder to connect with the characters, which takes away from the emotional impact.

This is a drama-thriller everyone should make sure to see. It was both a critical and commercial success, and during its release, it found itself on many “best movies of 2007” lists.

If you haven’t seen No Country for Old Men, dash to the video store and get a copy.