It is a bloody and grisly film at times, but this is one of those few times where the violence and gore are not just necessary but essential. On first viewing its simply thrilling, on subsequent viewing I get the feeling this will only grow in estimation.
No Country for Old Men (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:221
Fresh:208
Rotten:13
Average Rating:8.5/10
Consensus: Another triumph for the Coen Brothers, No Country has the perfect mixture of suspense, humor, and desperately compelling performances. The seemingly simple story hides a more complex narrative, and high tension is maintained throughout.
Runtime: 2 hrs 2 mins
Genre: Drugs, Suspense, Thriller, Murder, Serial Killers, Money, Theatrical Release
US Box Office: $74,223,625
Synopsis: With NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, the Coen Brothers have found a perfect match in Pulitzer Prize-winning author Cormac McCarthy. Their adaptation of McCarthy's praised novel is a staggering masterpiece.... With NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, the Coen Brothers have found a perfect match in Pulitzer Prize-winning author Cormac McCarthy. Their adaptation of McCarthy's praised novel is a staggering masterpiece. In this almost impossibly faithful adaptation, the film takes place in a small Texas border town in 1980. Sheriff Bell (a never-been-better Tommy Lee Jones) has ruled the land for years without the use of a gun, but a new brand of reckless lawlessness has taken over his town. Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) is an innocent Everyman with a devoted wife, Carla Jean (Kelly Macdonald), but when he stumbles across a drug deal gone deadly and finds two million dollars, he's determined to keep it for himself. There's only one problem. He's being pursued by one of the most amoral, evil psychopaths that the big screen has ever seen. Wearing an absurd haircut and brandishing a pressurized weapon that's used to murder cattle, Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) creeps forward on his mission to track Moss down and return the money to its rightful owners to save his own skin. As the tension mounts, the body count begins to rise, confirming Sheriff Bell's inability to battle this new wave of modern brutality. The most striking thing about the Coen Brothers' thriller is their masterly use of silence to create an almost unbearable level of tension. Cinematographer Roger Deakins is once again at the top of his game, beautifully capturing this stark and lonely world. The well-rounded cast is clearly excited to be a part of such a stellar production--particularly Bardem, whose Chigurh is a freakishly mysterious monster, and is certain to haunt viewers long after the final credit has rolled. In a career filled with striking achievements, this might very well be the Coen Brothers' finest. It is filmmaking at its best. [More]
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Kelly MacDonald
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Kelly MacDonald, Woody Harrelson, Stephen Root
Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Screenwriter: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Producer: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, Scott Rudin
Composer: Carter Burwell
Studio: Miramax Films
Reviews for No Country for Old Men
I think this just might be [the Coens'] best film so far, with some qualifications.
It's the unexpected nature of the characters and what happens to them that makes this return to form from the Coen Brothers both intriguing and satisfying.
Once you open Pandora's Box, there's simply no stopping the beasts that pour out.
What starts off as the best Charles Bronson movie not to star Charles Bronson ends up as a literary adaptation of a novel that thinks it means something or other.
No Country for Old Men is the brothers at their most polished, austere, and humorless.
When you see No Country for Old Men, leave your preconceptions at home. But bring your Alfred Hitchcock lenses. They're useful. No Country for Old Men is a dazzling time-bomb of a movie. It is an engrossing, brutal, nerve-wracking moral tale
For a film that traffics in implacable malice, this movie remains remarkably grounded in the everyday.
This is some of Brolin's best work to date, though the film still belongs to Bardem and Jones, whose low-key mannerisms are well-suited to the Coens' sensibilities.
McCarthy's ferocious tale gives the Coens room to unleash their cinematic gifts, but keeps them from wandering too far afield and losing themselves in the marshes of technical prowess or easy irony.
Although 'No Country for Old Men' is an exciting film, wise screen violence needs more emotional depth below surface technique.
The Coen Brothers explore the demise of the Western with their late-80s-set drama about a simple man running from a amoral assassin.
Why, Joel and Ethan, why did you have to ruin an almost flawless film with a terrible last scene?
I was a little worried when I went to see "No Country for Old Men" because many people have been labeling it a masterpiece, but for once all the hype is warranted.
Without overstating the case this could be Joel and Ethan Coen's finest work yet. A bruising, battering, almost religious experience.
No Country for Old Men is the kind of film that will only cement the opinion you already have about its uniquely eccentric makers. Approach the ticket booth accordingly.
Retains the Coen brothers' trademark quirkiness, and it certainly goes all out. But it's also subtle in ways we haven't seen before.
The most fascinating element of the film is its formal linking of its multiple, no-nonsense protagonists. [Blu-Ray review]
Latest News for No Country for Old Men
April 06, 2009:
RT on DVD: Bedtime Stories, Yes Man, Doubt Hit Shelves
This week's new releases include a few Hollywood takes on science fiction (Fox's remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still; the 1984 sequel 2010: The Year We Make Contact on... More...
October 17, 2008:
UK Critics Consensus: Is Burn After Reading A Coens Classic? Does Eagle Eye Have Enough Action, Man?
In this week's roster of UK cinema releases we have the latest addition to the Coen canon in the CIA comedy caper, Burn After Reading, Shia LeBeouf stakes a further claim to the... More...
September 08, 2008:
Tommy Lee Jones Sues Paramount ![]()
Tommy Lee Jones has filed a lawsuit against Paramount, alleging the studio has failed to pay him roughly $10 million in fees for "No Country for Old Men." More...
May 06, 2008:
2008 MTV Movie Award Nominations Announced
It's almost time to hand out some golden popcorn -- the nominations for the 2008 MTV Movie Awards have been announced! More...
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