No Country for Old Men
“You can’t stop what’s coming”. So we’re told a couple of times during the Coen brothers’ latest film, No Country For Old Men (most of the dialogue was lifted faithfully from the pages of Cormac McCarthy’s novel of the same name). However, in what heralds a welcome return of the Coens to more morally complex cinematic parables such as Blood Simple, and Fargo, this adage ultimately applies more to those viewing the film, than the characters in it.
A hunter stalking prey in the wilds of Texas stumbles upon the gory remnants of a drug deal gone wrong, spurring a fascinating and surprising series of events that result in a gripping tale, comprising a curious admixture of happenstance and consequences.
The cast is brilliant. Josh Brolin delivers a surprisingly good performance as the hunter, Llewelyn Moss. Woody Harrelson reminds us yet again, that he has well and truly shed his TV alter-ego Woody Boyd - and, of course, there’s the usual sprinkling of quirky cameos. Tommy Lee Jones, in a marvellously understated and wry performance, provides comic relief – and more – as the local lawman, Ed Tom Bell.
But it is Javier Badem who excels as the steely and eerily subdued psychopath, Anton Chigurh. Chigurh, a bounty hunter and hitman is excruciatingly efficient. Yet, despite his dubious profession, of all the male characters, he may actually have the most integrity.
You may recall Scottish actor Kelly Macdonald, as the naïve maid in Gosford Park. She brings a similar softness to her role as Carla Jean, Moss’s wife. Her gentleness is a tonic in an otherwise brutal film. At least, I think it’s gentleness. Or is she simply passive?
It’s hard to say, since much of the film is about choice and fate: how we decide upon the first, the degree to which we accept the second, and the extent to which we allow both influence our lives. “You can’t stop what’s coming”. Or can you? Are our lives merely the sum of chance and choice?
There’s also an interesting and clever dichotomy, between the story and the plot. The plot is gratifyingly suspenseful. As for the story, the protagonist is revealed in such a stealthy manner, that it may well surprise you.
Cinema buffs are rewarded with the Coens’ filmic reference to Stanley Kubrick. (Detecting these customary nods have become de rigeur for Coen brothers fans and contemporary cinema aficionados alike).
Be warned: No Country For Old Men is a violent film. But it is so deceptively complex and rewarding, that it would be preferable to view it gingerly through the gaps between splayed fingers, than not at all.