No Country For Old Men

Finally made the trip to local big city to catch this film as for bizarre reasons it has not been showing at either of my two local multiplexes. Should probably preface this by saying that I have been a fan of the Coen brother's films ever since seeing their first Blood Simple, but even they are not infallible and the have made a few stinkers over the years.

This is not one of them, beautifully shot in New Mexico and Texas the landscapes provide a stunning backdrop for the unfolding story. The tale opens with a man (Brolin) out hunting deer in the scrubby desert, while following the trail of a wounded animal he comes across the remains of a drug deal gone bad. One man still lives and asks him for water but he does not have any with him so he tracks down the bag of cash and returns home to his wife in their ramshackle trailer.

Later that night a twinge of conscience draws him back to the scene with a large bottle of water, the man has since died and some associates of the dealers appear forcing him to flee on foot leaving his truck behind. Events spiral out of control from this point with a vicious hit man (Bardem) pursuing him leaving a trail of bodies in his wake. The local sheriff (Jones) follows the trail while waxing philosophical about how the world is changing for the worse around him.

Excellent performances from the three central characters (Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin) and a fine supporting act in Kelly MacDonald who (for a Scottish lady) turns in a good Southern drawl

There is almost no soundtrack in this movie with the directors letting the locations, script and actors tell the story without distractions. They even manage to inject some humour into what is otherwise a tense thriller.

Based on a book by Cormac McCarthy and according to what I have read a very close adaptation – have never read any of his books but this makes me want to change that real soon

Two hours really well spent and while I have heard some people complain about the open ending I had no quibbles about it as that too is taken straight from the book.