by Olga Barsky

Best film I’ve seen this year, hands down. Having been disappointed by THE LADYKILLERS, I didn’t have high expectations walking into Ethan and Joel Coen’s most recent flick. Little did I know that NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN was going to be as good, if not better, than FARGO.

Based on Cormac McCarthy’s novel of the same name, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN is bloody, suspenseful, and thrilling. This western/film noire, set in 1980’s Texas, follows the story of soldier turned cowboy Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) who stumbles upon five shot-up cars, a troop of dead Mexicans, a shitload of heroin, and suitcase filled with two million dollars. Cha-ching.

Meanwhile, we are introduced to Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), who may be the creepiest film antagonist of this era, with the worst mushroom cut imaginable. He kills everyone in his path with an oxygen tank-looking weapon (air compressor), and when undecided, he makes his victim flip a coin to determine their fate. He operates under a set of his very own twisted principles and is absolutely petrifying to watch.

Llewelyn pries the suitcase out of a dead Mexican’s hands and heads home to his trailer, dreaming of an early retirement. But it’s not that easy. As Moss soon learns, when two million dollars go missing, drug lords get angry. Making a near-fatal error, Moss returns to the desert later that night with a jug of water for the single survivor of the shootout. Barely escaping, the cowboy, now with a gaping shotgun wound in his side returns to his wife (Kelly Macdonald) and sends her off to stay with her mother. And so the pursuit begins.

The performances are outstanding all around, but the strongest impact is made by Bardem who, if there’s any justice left in the world, will get at least an Oscar nomination for the part. Other prominent characters include Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) a loveable small town sheriff with some of the best lines in the film, and Carson Wells (Woody Harrelson), a cocky man-hunter who bites off a bit more than he can chew.

In addition to exceptional performances, the screenplay, also written by the brothers extraordinaire, hits all the right marks between memorable one-liners and trademark subtle hilarity. The story unfolds at just the right pace and catches us completely off guard with its unsettled, anti-Hollywood ending. Memorable, intense, and beautifully shot, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN is sure to blow your mind, metaphorically speaking of course.