‘No Country for Old Men’ Screening at Tinsletown

7pm, November 07, 2007, Tinsletown, Vancouver BC. The screening for ‘No Country for Old Men’ was packed. The movie is set in the rural and suburban American South were ordinary folk get involved with dangerous and sometimes psychotic drug traffickers. This story is told from several perspectives. All point to one major crime. A drug deal, murders and betrayal only lead to more violence. Those who become concerned in this initial problem eventually find themselves getting more than they signed up for and having to deal with hiding from a bloodthirsty hit man. The recurring theme in this film is self-restraint or lack thereof.

The scenery of this movie is great for those who appreciate the dust and cacti of the dry southern desserts. I enjoyed the Texas-style accent of the actors, which was spot on in all cases. The friendly rural attitudes of the townsfolk in this film are completely utilized. One scene at a gas station with Bardem’s character and a gas attendant proved that silence can be the most entertaining and stressful situations.

For those who are not horror, war or action movie fans, this movie is not for you. While there is a fairly well written plot and character dialogues, a large portion of this film is dedicated to violence and destruction. This is largely due to the antagonist, Chigurh, played by Javier Bardem. He shows no mercy or compassion toward his victims. Their deaths hardly amuse or effect him at all. Many of the characters are supposedly ex-military. This film definitely shows the darker consequences of generations of trained killer Americans back home.

This film was directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Actors include Tommy Lee Jones Who played a third generation Sheriff, Sherriff in a small American town in the South. He is excellent, and the interaction between this character and his protégé throughout the movie are amusing and entertaining from a dialogue-script point of view. Josh Brolin plays the main protagonist, a man Vietnam veteran who is faced with overwhelming stubbornness, curiosity and a little greed. He is the sort of quiet bushman that anyone from a small enough town will have met at least once. Javier Bardem performed beautifully as a eerily calm and convincing serial killer.

Overall, I enjoyed this movie. It was entertaining, visually interesting and well made. There did not seem to be any moral allegiances as to the nature of murder. I liked how the director left his question up to the audience to decide, making the ending a bit more of a thinker. This movie definitely requires less escapist audiences to be fully and thoroughly enjoyed. It was a sort of less trippy and more serious action-based version of ‘Natural Born Killers’ without as much romance. Go out and see it, it screens again at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 8 and 10. I would recommend this film to realist, violence-loving people who also get a kick out of hearing a good Southern drawl.