No Country For Old Men

[Farmer Ted]

Finally saw it yesterday.

Holy. Shit. Anton.

Edited February 18, 2008 by Guest

[Guest AG/DC]

Now that's a push poll.

[Farmer Ted]

Don't know what happened to my fourth poll item: Holy fuck, what did I just see?

[Guest AG/DC]

You have to hit the "Add Option" button after the final answer option in the poll.

[metirish]

Yet another movie me and the missus need to see, nanny is coming tomorrow so now we can catch up, Bardem is definitely her favorite actor.

The Sea Inside is an excellent movie I saw of his.

[metirish]

WOW, what a movie, the ending was what exactly?, was Ed Tom Bell in reflecting on his life and dreams basically saying that he is ready to join his Dad in death and accepting that some evil will never be defeated?

The scene with Barry Corbin is key to the whole thing I feel, or at least how I read it.


What are your thoughts Ted?

Vic have you seen this movie, thoughts.

[Guest OlerudOwned]

I have the DVD sitting in the house, but haven't watched it yet.

I loved the book and most people I know who also did seem to have enjoyed the film.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Vaguely spoilerific discussion to follow:









I'd heard enough about this movie to expect a whiz-bang flick where the ending just sucked but that's not how it played for me. I was sort of glad the whole "chase scene" aspect ended when it did, and how it did. Most films would be satisfied to take it to the end when the so-called good guy rallies for a satisfying victory.

Have to say there were times when my head supplied high-pitched yodeling to go along with it -- though very different movies, RAISING ARIZONA and NO COUNTRY really got the most out of simple criminals wandering the Southwest. YEEEEEEE-i-YEE-Oh--oh-EEE-YOOOOOOoooo! A little FARGO in there too, with the small-town cop confronting major league criminals.

I can't understand the poll choices; I'd choose all 4. Or go 8/10 with the possibility of a 2nd viewing pumping the score higher.

[Vic Sage]

i guess i was the victim of hype, but i wasn't blown away.

Random thoughts:

- Yes, Bardem's psycho-killer is a great character, and Brolin is excellent, too. They're all great, in fact. Even Woody Harrelson in his little bitty part.

- The Coens covered similar ground in their first flick, BLOOD SIMPLE, a Texas-noir made with alot more style and more fun.

- Bardem walking around with that compressed air tank reminded me of Dennis Hopper's character, Frank Booth, in BLUE VELVET, sucking off a nitrous tank before going on his murderous psycho rampages.

- Tommy Lee Jones' sheriff reminds me of the FARGO sheriff... grounded, sympathetic, smart. But he's given alot less to do. He seemed utterly peripheral until the last 20 minutes, when the filmmakers decided to make him the protagonist. A little late for that, guys.

That, in a nutshell, was my problem with the ending. I'm ok with a story where [spoiler alert] the bad guy wins, or where the tight, chase structure of the narrative is purposefully undermined by a vague, philosophical, contemplative ending. But the shift in viewpoint seemed unearned to me, and unestablished by what preceded it, and so was frustrating and unsatisfying, in a narrative sense.

Disclaimer:

I didn't read the book, and I don't like the Coen Brothers. In fact, of their entire output, I really liked only MILLER'S CROSSING, and i liked only aspects of BLOOD SIMPLE, FARGO and RAISING ARIZONA. The rest either leave me cold, or inspire me to hurl rotten vegetables at the screen.

But that's just me.

[Guest AG/DC]

It's not really just you. I don't think I'm as broad in my disdain, but yeah.

[Guest sharpie]

I don't get the poll at all.

I saw it. I liked it. I'd read the book -- it was remarkably faithful.

I thought the gas station - Javier Bardem scene was pretty great.

I'd give it an 8 out of 10 if there was a poll that made sense.

[Vic Sage]

i voted "yeah, that's a Coen Bros movie", but i didn't intend that to be a compliment.

[metirish]

Is it fair to say that it's one of those movies that the critics love but the movie going public care little for?

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

No.

[Guest sharpie]

I agree with Lunchbucket. I liked it. It wasn't my favorite Coen Brothers movie but I think it worked. I probably wouldn't have voted for it as Best Picture but this isn't one of those "how'd they vote for that one?" Oscars.

[Frayed Knot]

I liked it.
The part about the ending 'suddenly' featuring the sherriff as main character didn't bother me as it was his narritive that started the movie and between that and his musings at the end formed a kind of set of brackets to the story and action sequences that filled the middle.