Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 4 ratings
Llewelyn Moss stumbles upon dead bodies, $2 million and a hoard of heroin in a Texas desert, but methodical killer Anton Chigurh comes looking for it, with local sheriff Ed Tom Bell hot on his trail. The roles of prey and predator blur as the violent pursuit of money and justice collide.
No Country for Old Men is a near-masterpiece of neo-noir filmmaking. The plot is lean and relentless, drawn from McCarthy's novel with surgical precision. The acting is exceptional across the board — Javier Bardem's Chigurh is one of cinema's all-time great villains, while Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin anchor the film with quiet authority. Roger Deakins' cinematography is among his finest work, capturing the West Texas landscape with stark, sun-bleached menace. The film is wholly distinctive — its voice, pacing, and moral philosophy are unmistakably the Coens'. The ending is the one point of genuine division: Bell's dream monologue is thematically rich but deliberately anticlimactic, denying conventional resolution. For some this is profound; for many it frustrates. It earns respect but not full marks for landing.