Rate this study in moral degradation

No Country For Old Men (Movie)

As soon as I finished reading The Road, Cormac McCarthy’s bleak analysis of a father/son relationship in the most hostile of all possible environments, I immdediately set to going through all his other work. No Country For Old Men was a brilliant tale of the hardships that come from living in a world going to hell and as is typical of McCarthy stunningly well-written to boot. A writer capable of such astute selections of language, his books are harsh, brutal yet ultimately rewarding. A film adaptation of any of his work needs to be not only faithful to the source but reverent. Halfway through the book I found out that a movie based on No Country For Old Men was coming out soon and that it was under the auspices of the Coen brothers, this made a lot of sense at the time. The premise, our protagonist stumbling upon a case of money from a botched drug deal and coping with the fallout from keeping it, feels very much like an ideal target for the Coens. As it stands No Country For Old Men is one of the finest films I have ever seen and a nigh-on perfect adaptation.

Handled with such love and care the film unfolds at a beautiful pace marked with moments of shocking violence. McCarthy’s ability to shock the reader with sudden bursts of violence is mirrored horrifically in the movie, lengthy dialogue-less sections of heart-stopping suspense are punctuated with loud and almost sickening moments of extreme brutality. Brilliantly staged encounters like these act as way points for the emerging bleak narrative, that the world is not a great place; that time leaves everyone behind eventually and over the years mankind’s virtues are falling by the wayside. This viewpoint is one seen from the character Sheriff Ed Tom Bell’s angle and is wonderfully captured by Tommy Lee Jones. The entire cast for that matter deliver exceptional performances and especially Javier Bardem who is just plain terrifying as the rogue psychopath Anton Chigurh.

I really have nothing bad to say about this film. A piece of work like this, so heartrending in it’s near-perfection, should not be missed or ignored. From the first moments in beautifully shot open country to the powerful and haunting climax there really is not a bad second wasted. Not just a fantastic adaptation worthy of McCarthy’s fans’ attention but a truly great movie and one of the best I’ve seen in a long time.

Rated: 7 out of 7