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| Javier Bardem's visage colored darkly hangs ominously over an escaping Josh Brolin on this poster for Ethan and Joel Coen's No Country for Old Men |
A Texan hunter comes across a fortune from a drug deal gone bad and runs off with it. But following his trail is a mysterious hitman named Anton Chigurh.
No Country for Old Men is written and directed by Minnesotan master filmmaker brothers Ethan and Joel Coen (Blood Simple (1984)), adapting Cormac McCarthy's (Suttree (1979)) same-titled 2005 novel. It is their 12th feature.
It is a hell of a dark movie, so dark and grim in fact that I was surprised at its success back in 2007/08. The world must indeed be a dark place when No Country for Old Men is the film that appeals to just about everyone, - or so it felt at the time at least.
The film has terrific performances from Javier Bardem (Goya's Ghosts (2006)), Woody Harrelson (Management (2008)), Josh Brolin (American Gangster (2007)) and Tommy Lee Jones (Men in Black (1997)), whose part has the humor that pulls up the experience some. Also good is Kelly Macdonald (In the Electric Mist (2009)). Roger Deakins' (Air America (1990)) photography is a star in itself here. The sound work is great.
Still although one must commend the craftsmanship and performances, No Country for Old Men is such an insufferably dark and disheartening death fest to me. I also dislike the title itself, a grievous summation of America.
Related posts:
Ethan and Joel Coen: Hail, Caesar! (2016) - The Coen brothers serve a whimsical, flashy letdown
Unbroken (2014) - Despite good elements, Jolie's Grand WWII Biopic is mostly distant and weak (co-writers)
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Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: 25 mil. $
Box office: 171.6 mil. $
= Huge hit (returned 6.86 times its cost)
[No Country for Old Men premiered 19 May (Cannes Film Festival, in competition) and runs 122 minutes. The Coens considered the film their first straight adaptation. Brolin was paid 100k $ for his performance. Shooting took place from May - August 2006 in New Mexico and Texas. The film opened #15 to a 1.2 mil. $ first weekend in 28 theaters, peaking 7 weekends later at #5, behind new releases I Am Legend and Alvin and the Chipmunks and holdover hits The Golden Compass and Enchanted, to a 3 mil. $ weekend, while it peaked in numbers of theaters much later in 2,037 venues, and eventually grossed 74.2 mil. $ (43.2 % of the total gross) in North America. The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 14.1 mil. $ (8.2 %) and Spain with 10.7 mil. $ (6.2%). The film was nominated for 8 Oscars, winning 4; for Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay and Supporting Actor (Bardem). It lost Best Cinematography to Robert Elswit for There Will Be Blood, Editing to The Bourne Ultimatum, and Sound Mixing and Sound Editing also to The Bourne Ultimatum. It also won 3/9 BAFTA nominations, an AFI award, a David di Donatello award, 2/4 Golden Globe nominations, 3 National Board of Review awards and several other honors. IMDb users have rated the film in at #156 on the site's Top 250 list, sitting between The Gold Rush (1925) and Dial M for Murder (1954). Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to 2 notches over this one. Jones sued Paramount in 2008 for not paying him his due contractual salary, a case that was concluded with the company forced to pay him 17.5 mil. $ in 2010. Paramount then sued lawyers from the responsible film finance company and settled for 2.6 mil. $ over the error. Mysteriously IMDb still lists Jones' salary from the film at 10 mil. $. (Did he possibly settle for less money than the court rewarded him, maybe in exchange for something else?) The Coens returned with World Cinema (2007, short) and theatrically with Burn After Reading (2008). Jones returned in In the Valley of Elah (2007); Brolin in World Cinema (2007, short) and theatrically in In the Valley of Elah; and Bardem in Love in the Time of Cholera (2007). No Country for Old Men is certified fresh at 93 % with an 8.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of No Country for Old Men?
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