No Country For Old Men

At the start of 'No Country For Old Men', we're looking at beautifully desolate Texas landscapes while hearing Tommy Lee Jones' sheriff telling us tales of an increasingly violent time. In pretty short order, we're watching Javier Bardem's hitman strangling a deputy to death on the floor of a local police station. The filmmakers' attention to detail then gives us Bardem's bloody, cuff-marked hands as he washes them in the restroom. The camera then pans across the floor. We see the scuff-marks where the deputy fought for his life before Bardem calmly takes back his weapon of choice: a cattle gun! The opening is so deadpan and off-kilter, we can only deduce its by Joel and Ethan Coen.
Having played with almost all recognizable genres from white trash, screwball comedy ('Raising Arizona'); to gangster drama ('Miller's Crossing'); to film noir ('The Man Who Wasn't There', 'Blood Simple'); here they've settled into the classic western by adapting the Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name. But unlike most westerns, this one takes place in 1980's Texas. And unlike their previous efforts, the overall feel is much more profound.
Bardem is chasing Josh Brolin's welder, who stumbles upon a small fortune in the form of a mid-desert drug deal gone terribly wrong. Quickly realizing he's not getting away so easily, he sends his wall-flowery wife to her mother's while he awaits the worst. Throughout the chase, Tommy Lee Jones's sheriff calmly investigates the crime with tired spirit that reflects his sadness over the increasingly violent world he has to protect. Later visiting an old recluse who may or may not be his former sheriff, he admits his wishes to retire because he feels 'outmatched'.
Jones has always been a scene stealer, and this film is no exception. I've always though of him as another Morgan Freeman - another actor whose steady gaze and tired face always seem to command a sense of authority and wisdom. Though the film is probably Bardem's. His appearance is immediately funny, and the deadpan delivery of his non-sequitors lead us to believe he's the film's comic core. But as his speeches go on and the constant bloodshed continues, he starts to reveal himself more as a grim-reaper figure: unapologetic and deeply rooted in the belief that everything is the result of fate - he's just the delivery man. With two such strong actors in the mix, Brolin's role seems destined to pale in comparison. For an actor whose never been held in as high regard as Jones or Bardem, this was a bold choice for the Coen bros. Fortunately for us all, Brolin anchors the film with a strong mix of grace and mystery. We're not entirely sure what drives him into such dangerous terrain, but he's unapologetically hell bent on getting away with someone else's money and unafraid to face whatever comes after him. He may be immoral, but Brolin plays him with just the right amount of cowboy charm and leading man benevolence.
In spite of the violence and the ominous themes, the film does have the Coen bros. signature 'awe-shucks' humor and so-violent-it's-funny moments. The brothers take every opportunity make comic good out of the small town color and southern charm throughout. In fact, the only match for Bardem's non-sequitored intimidations is the lady working in a trailer park office who mocks him and refuses him information he demands. Their understated moves are what make 'No Country For Old Men' so unique. We hear no ominous score until well into the first half when Bardem drives around the Texas night with the machine-like drive of Schwarzenegger's 'Terminator'; stopping only to shoot at a bird perched on a bridge (he misses!). Brolin's death is kept from our view. We see only a last glimpse of him as he waves off the advances of a girl lounging by the pool. The scene fades out as he smiles in the sun, only to appear again from Jones's point of view as he arrives at the aftermath of his demise. But the scene that maybe sticks with us longest is the last one. Sitting down over breakfast, Jones tells his wife of a dream in which he and his deceased father are riding horses through rough weather. His father rides ahead of him, leaving him to feel that there will be refuge for him soon. Quite simply, with no music, the scene fades to black ending the film with subtle grace and quiet poignancy.