No Country for Old Men

The Brothers Coen are known for their bloody films about desperate people in bleak situations. Their first big hit was Fargo (1996), but they made their mark in smaller films such as Barton Fink, O Brother Where Art Thou, and The Big Lebowski. And now they're back with a sparkling new crime thriller, No Country For Old Men.

Based on a novel by Cormac McCarthy, the story follows a Texas war vet named Llewelyn (Josh Brolin) who comes across a drug deal gone bad out in the desert. Amid the rotting bodies and spent bullet shells, Llewelyn finds two million dollars, with which he quickly absconds. All is peaches until he finds himself tracked by a creepy psychopathic hitman named Chigurh (Javier Bardem), who has been sent to recover the cash but also leaves a trail of bodies in his wake. A local sheriff named Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) is soon searching for both men while wondering what in the hell has happened to our great country to make it so violent.

One of the things that makes the film successful is the directors' use of suspense. In an age when MTV-influenced films are often edited together with quick cuts, the Coen brothers take the time to slow it down, allowing for nail-biting suspense to build. Several scenes of Llewelyn being stalked by Chigurh are as tension-filled and dramatic as anything else you'll see this year.

No Country For Old Men garnered two Golden Globe awards: one for best screenplay (Joel and Ethan Coen) and best supporting actor (Javier Bardem). While critics (and more than a few audiences) are raving about the film, there are some small but significant missteps. The film is a little too pleased with itself, particularly regarding the flat-affect killer Chigurh. At one point we see him force a small-town gas station owner to choose a side in a coin flip, presumably a life-or-death choice. While it was supposed to reflect Chigurh's philosophy on chance or death, it seems more of a sophomoric gimmick than anything else. His weapon of choice, a pressurized cattle stun gun, is novel but also screams, "Look how weird he is! Isn't that cool!?"

Tommy Lee Jones's character, Sheriff Bell, never really materializes. Perhaps it's because he's competing for screen time with two other very compelling characters. Perhaps it's because Jones has played that sort of grizzled, world-weary lawman one time too many. Whatever the reason, Bell is one of the weakest links in this otherwise taut, well-written thriller