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Saw No Country for Old Men last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's nice to see the Coen brothers return to the harder edge of Blood Simple or even Miller's Crossing. Oh, or The Man Who Wasn't There, a great movie that I always forget about as, like its protagonist, it's a very wispy feature.
After their last few movies relied at least partially on devices (DahKOtin accents, Southern accents, Clooney, etc.), No Country is a film completely without gimmick and even the color palette is a muted Texas dust and blue skies as opposed to something more flashy like O Brother's gold tones or Miller's Crossing's autumnal roads. Fast, straight-forward, and surprising, it's one of those movies I always hope to see when I go to the theater. Usually I'm seeing Enchanted. I mean, that's fine too.
Best film of the year? Probably, though I had a singular appreciation for Zodiac which, incidentally, hits a lot of the same notes of societal entropy expressed by one, unstoppable man. The big difference is that Zodiac's San Francisco becomes a mad house of fear and paranoia while in No Country the evil, if that's what it is, walks empty streets. It's an interesting contrast especially since Fincher's movie is so meticulous while the Coens' is murky and grim. I prefer the No Country for a lot of reasons--it's better, for one; every interior shot looked like someplace I'd been as a kid in Nebraska, for another--but I just think it's interesting that so many movies this year seem to be about shocking events serving as markers of moral decay in the face of modernity. I haven't seen all of these, but in addition to No Country and Zodiac there is The Assassination of Jesse James..., Gone Baby Gone, Into the Wild, Sweeney Todd, and Dan in Real Life. Well, maybe not that last one.
And, seriously, Josh Brolin. Who knew?
12.22.2007
Exhibit 5.19
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1 comment:
(Spoiler alert)
I've really been waiting to discuss this movie with someone but no one else has seen it, except the only other guy in the theater with me who sat three rows in front of me.
What I thought was striking about NCFOM was despite the relative lack of character development in a traditional sense the movie seamlessly flips a switch at about the 2/3 mark and realize that it's not really about Josh Brolin or the money, it's really about Tommy Lee Jones and how he can't come to grips with how the world works anymore. The scene with the old sheriff who reminds him it's always been like that is fantastic.
Other points:
1. I guess this is true of a lot of Cormac McCarthy characters, but I love how Javier Bardem is basically just a personification senseless violence and he simply walks away at the end. No Country for Old Men indeed.
2. It's amazing how tense and "badass in an action movie sense" the first hour and a half is, and then how cerebral and thought provoking the last half hour is. Again, kudos to the Coens. This really is a fantastic movie.
3. This absolutely should win the cinematography and best adapted screenplay, if nothing else. That said, it was the best movie I saw all year.
4. I knew about Josh Brolin from the girls' bike scene from the Goonies.
5. Javier Bardem should win the Oscar for both "Best Prince Valient Hairdo" and "Scariest Guy in any move, ever"
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