No Country for Old Men (2007)

Have you noticed that many films have a good ending regardless of that swirl of events and intensity of emotions that were shown across on the screen? This draws such pictures back from from real life, but the Coen brothers don't seek to soothe the spectators by pleasant outcome, they do make real films with the finale they deserve.

Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) has been hunting for pronghorns when he came across the outcome of a drug deal, where he found dead men and of course a case of money. The latter was what a hunter was looking for, but he could hardly presuppose he was not the only one longing for cash. Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) was hired to kill a money-owner and bring the case back. It would be a daunting task for him but for a transponder hidden in a briefcase with two millions dollars inside. This is the beginning of a bloody chase with Moss being only one step ahead. But his good luck will come to an end sometime and he will have to face his pursuer. Do you still think there will be a good ending?

No Country for Old Men is a higly rated film but at the same time this is a very controversial movie with many positive reviews on one scale and nearly the same number of poor on another. Probably some spectators considered it too cruel even for a crime thriller, but others did manage to see the allegory here. Anton Chrigurh impersonates the Death, who used to establish his own set of rules, deciding whom to execute and whom to spare. I should say it is merciless to all who get in the way. If you dare to challenge the Death, like Llewelym Moss did, you will lose.

There is definitely a message the Coen brothers intended to deliver and there is a philosopher, the sheriff, they used as a means for it. He is struggling through trying to comprehend the universe, just like many of the people usually do. This gives a movie an intellectual tone drawing attention away from cut-throat scenes to deep parts of your soul. But it's sometimes hard to understand the idea of the movie under that tapestry of events.

The biggest yet not the greatest surprise is a lack of ending. As the closing credits start scrolling, you can start thinking about your way to finish the story. With lots of people dead, with mission accomplished, it is still a question 'what was that?' Was that some space left for your consideration? It is better to avail yourself of a chance to spend two hours on watching No Country for Old Men just to get your own impression of the movie.