No Country for Old Men

I went to the movies to see No Country for Old Men the other day. Very violent, tough movie, but I have not seen a screen villain as vividly rendered and lingeringly unpleasant as Javier Bardem is in this picture since Henry Silva played the angel-dust-snorting hit man in Sharky's Machine with Burt Reynolds. Bardem is not to be believed, he is so intense and eerie.

Thanksgiving was...peaceful. In all of my adult life, I have rarely seen Americans so in need of a vacation, a break, a place to go that is safe and comfortable. I have rarely seen Americans rush toward the Thanksgiving weekend with such need and commitment. This country is coming apart. And people are in a lot of pain about that. Eight years of these lunatics raping everything they see has been exhausting. Americans are exhausted. Our system is breaking down, slowly, and people are, when they get honest about it, frightened about what that means, short and long term. Iraq is a mess and they botched that so badly. Now, some say Iran is next. How can that be?

The American military is staffed by brave, highly trained, competent people. But it's run by idiots. Idiots who are going to kill a lot of innocent people and get some of us killed along the way.

Go see No Country for Old Men. It's a metaphor for Iraq and the post 9/11 world.

Comments

[nutty4tahoe]

Here's hoping that Thanksgiving '08 will be one where we can feel more thankful and that we'll be celebrating election results. If not, then I think I'll move to Italy where I might feel more thankful.

[Doofus]

What it is, is a twisted re-telling of 'The Getaway'.
Didn't see the movie, but read the book which is
easier to take, and listened to the audio-book on
a long car trip, not so easy to take. If you like stories
about paranoid sociopaths & the harm they do, this is for you.

And no doubt, Tommy Lee Jones makes one craggy
old Texas sheriff.

If you like 'NCFOM', you'll maybe enjoy 'The Road',
which at least won a Pulitzer prize. Or just
go watch Steve McQueen do his thing in 'The
Getaway'.

[mike53]

Sorry Alec. I quit going to movies a long time ago. I refuse to send any money to hollywood.

[Darwin48]

I haven't seen anyone mention the brilliant author who wrote this cool book...Cormac McCarthy...and I am dying to see the film.
I highly suggest any or all of McCarthy's books.
Hopefully, "Blood Meridian" is next.

[SheilaB]

I hope Iran is NOT next in Bush's agenda. What is with invading other countries? Is that some kind of an Anglo-arrogance thing? We seem to have some sort of innate sense of entitlement in wanting to conquer other countries with pride and joy.

[ruddie]

Maybe civil war wouldnt be so bad..
The north could just surrender and let Texas and
a few other states have thier independence.
Might do the rest of the country a lof of good.

[kellygrrrl]

I agree with your sentiment that people are in deep despair. I keep reading all this news that the Black Friday shopping rush is in full force. But I have not talked to one person who has any interest in holiday shopping. Most people I talk to feel scared and nervous. Others are just bah-humbug, and can't quite get the "spirit" up and running. This is the first year ever I have had no interest in the holidays.

[cognate]

Great movie!

Sorry, didn't see a connection to any particular state-organized mass violence, except for brief mentions of Vietnam.

[PanFried]

OMG, not to change the subj, but I just discovered 30 Rock after having read some of the reviews. WoW, I am not a tv watcher, but i love the show! so unlike much of the drivel out there.
'No Country for Old Men' is the new Coen bros movie? plan to watch when it comes out on DVD.

[sneezeguard]

Bardem is brilliant in this film. The sheer terror he communicates without saying a word is something for the ages. The voilence is not gratuitous and is real, though it's the aura that surrounds Bardem that sticks with you even when he's not on screen. Not a TLJones fan but this role kept him from scene-munching and the Coen brothers wrote some great lines for him (reminiscent of their gem Miller's Crossing). However to tie it into those who run the military is simply strange (no offense Alec) and I don't think relevant in any sense. It's a great movie, though I wouldn't bring anyone prone to nightmares or those who cringe at pageboy haircuts on grown men.

[Dantheman99]

I'm glad you had a peaceful and happy Thanksgiving.

No Country For Old Men is a stunning film. I expect it will do very well with the critics awards, as it should.

Josh Brolin will get all the public attention and he's very good, but for my money Tommy Lee Jones and Javier Bardem are amazing and I hope both are remembered during Award season.

As an actor myself, I'm still rooting for Ben Foster to get surprise nominations for 3:10 to Yuma. I also hope No Country For Old Men gets a SAG Ensemble Award nomination.

I think this film is in many ways the flip side to the overrated film Crash. There is something breathtakingly honest about the fanciful plot in No Country for Old Men. This can be compared to the supposed "honesty" of Crash, which is an utterly superficial and disingenious look as supposed race relations in Los Angeles. I hate movies like Crash that purport to be deep and confrontational, but are in fact painfully obvious and accomplish the opposite what they set out to do. I love movies that surprise me with how revelatory they are in truth without the pretenses of pretending to be like No Country for Old Men.
I haven't seen everything this year yet, so I won't say what the "Best" is (and in truth I don't think you can have a "best" when it comes to creativity and art), if No Country for Old Men were to win the Best Picture Oscar and the SAG Ensemble Award, it would do a lot to wash away the bad aftertaste of those undeserving awards for Crash.

One more film to watch to imagine a post-Bush world is the incomparable German film, "The Lives of Others" which won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar last year, available on DVD. The end of the movie, to feel sunlight on your face again after living under the darkness of lies of a repressive regime is something we will all hopefully feel in January 2009.

[SNS]

I saw it Alex and I'm a huge Coen bros. fan, but maybe I was just comparing it too much to Fargo, I dunno. It had it's moments but to me it just isn't one of the better Coen bros. films. However, I agree, Bardem's character is chilling.

"Call it".

lol.

I'll try seeing it again and not expecting it to be better than Fargo all the way through.

[BritPatJax]

We have to stop 'supporting the troops' or at least supporting them in the way that Boortz Limbaugh and Hannity would see 'support'. They only see a winning strategy and that leaving Iraq is 'yeller'. Ironic that most of the foreign fighters fighting us in Iraq come from Saudi Arabia by all accounts and yet the war on terrorism is all about Iraq for the moment. Iraq can only get better on its own. Only when we withdraw will we know what the actual new problems are and an International force would then be the answer as always and only 'IF' absolutely unavoidable?

[wldnswmmr]

It's the best movie I've seen this year, maybe several years, and the cinematography in the opening scenes, where we view the calderas of southwest Texas, the enormous silence and sense of space, is masterfully done. We have a sheriff, Tom Ed Wells, a man of complete integrity and decency, confronting a new world of complete evil. I don't know if it's about Iraq and the post 9/11 world, but it is about social breakdown in modern America. Cormac McCarthy's book is followed closely, but the novel gets right down to the bone of the process. In one sequence not used in the movie, Wells reflects on teachers who were interviewed 30 years apart (the book is set in 1980, as is the movie). The earlier teachers said the problems with students were chewing gum in class and hallway deportment. The latter group said it was rape, murder and arson. Wells thought that said it all.

[Gebby]

Alec, I relate to your comment about Americans need for a restful Thanksgiving. I certainly needed one this year. Unfortunately i wasnt looking forward to sitting at the extended Family dinning table because of the opposing attitudes towards this administration known but not expressed. I am so angry right now about the hands on and then hands off approach this government exercises. Has this administration not dismantled practically everything in our society? I hope the resolution in 20 years is not another hot civil war. A cold civil war has divided this nation and families. I opted to collect my peace by spending Thanksgiving alone with friends instead. But it was peaceful and beautiful and I missed my family. I will make an effort to see the movie. Thanks for the recommendation. Next year I expect to be back at the family dinning table.