MOVIE REVIEW: No Country for Old Men

The history of cinema has given us many a bad haircut over the years.

Cameron Diaz in Being John Malkovich, Tom Hanks in The Da Vinci Code and Nicholas Cage in pretty much everything since the turn of the millennium. Never before though has someone with such a bad haircut been so terrifying and menacing than Chigurh, played by Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men.

We are introduced to him straight away, a man of few words and (in his mind) necessary actions. The plot revolves around a bag of stolen money that Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) runs off with after finding the aftermath of a Mexican standoff - with genuine Mexicans. This leads Chigurh hot on his trail and what happens next is a gripping cat and mouse tale full of the darkest wit and heart-pounding action.  

Tommy Lee Jones plays Sheriff Ed Tom Bell bringing with him the good to balance against the bad and the ugly haircut. He grounds the film by playing someone who is horrified by the evils that unfold in front of him, asking himself what he can do against such violence and hatred. A great performance from Jones that stands out with his best and buries the turd that was Man About The House.

The whole film has great performances all round. Each character is so well-written and so rounded that it’s a joy to watch each one on the screen and even smaller characters - such as Woody Harrelson’s Carson Wells - come across with such screen presence and well-written dialogue that there is never a dull moment as the plot takes you to unexpected places.

It’s hard to fault this film at all, which has you on the edge of your seat throughout and as it builds up to climatic confrontation at the finale when…
 
Oh sorry, were we meant to finish that sentence? Well, this is what happens in the film, all the excitement builds up and then abruptly ends. It’s a shock for the viewer and certainly felt a bit awkward when the focus changes back to Tommy Lee Jones for the last act. The film shifts into a different tone and it didn’t quite work as well as we hoped. It was all acted superbly by the parties involved, but it just felt like it was a scratched DVD and just skipped over the exciting scene.  

Without spoiling too much, though, it's clear this film is more than just a heart-pumpingly fantastic thriller - it has more of a soul than that and in these later scenes Jones’ character really stands out as the centre of the three leads. We’d be surprised if he doesn’t get an award nomination come Oscar time.

Go see this film. It is fantastic - the best we’ve seen this year so far - and a great return to form from the Coen brothers, who have revisited their darker noir roots with fantastic results.

Just don’t be surprised if you get some nightmares, because this villain will send chills down your spine and we aren’t just referring to his haircut.

[story by David A. Scarborough]