No Country for Old Men: For Who Then?

No Country For Old Men has been hailed by critics as a masterpiece, and yet panned by many average-joe movie goers as being dull. However, all agree on one thing: the villain was superb.

No Country For Old Men was directed by the Cohen Brothers, that's Ethan and Joel, who also directed films such as: Raising Arizona, Barton Fink, Fargo, and O Brother, Where Art Thou? The movie stars Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Kelly Macdonald, and Woody Harrelson. The basic plot: a man finds a lot of money and soon finds assassins are after him to get it back.

What is the singular thing everyone agrees on with No Country For Old Men? Javier Bardem puts in a spooky and Oscar-worthy performance as the killer hot on the Brolin character's trail; that and he has a bad haircut. Actually, I think the bad hairdo is truly what makes the character stick out in the minds of viewers, take that away and it wouldn't be the same. Yes, his performance is great, but then again so are those of everyone else in the film. I found Kelly Macdonald's role as the Brolin character's wife to be especially great as well; very likeable.

The best part of this film is the direction by the marvelous Cohen Brothers. The atmosphere, the mood, is set, and it is brutal, yet beautiful. No matter how slow the film may have moved at times I found my attention riveted.

Many people feel that the story falls apart with the less than Hollywood happy ending. Personally I think the ending wasn't too bad, however, the construction of the story did have several underlying problems when viewing it in the dark sense of depth that was in the core message. I felt there was a small logical error involving some hotel room numbers at one point, and the ultimate fate of Brolin's character is brushed over in a disappointing and abrupt manner.

Basically everyone will remember Bardem's performance and possibly little else after time has passed. No Country For Old Men is indeed a sort of masterpiece, a slightly forgettable one, yet essential if you were to own a Cohen Brothers collection. Great filmmaking, great acting, a hit and miss story.