Money, Murder and Existentialism

By Dan Hudak

Josh Brolin plays a hunter who finds missing loot in No Country for Old Men.

One look into the cold, vacant eyes of Javier Bardem in the opening moments of No Country for Old Men and you know you’re in for a harsh, brutal drama that will not be easy to watch. And it’s not. But the reason isn’t Bardem’s frightening performance, or all the blood that is spilled in this adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s best-selling novel.

Rather, the real difficulty in watching Joel and Ethan Coen’s (Fargo) latest effort is its superfluity. Simply put, there are too many characters and extraneous scenes that distract from the main storyline, and, as a result, the film occasionally loses its focus and momentum. That and a somewhat unorthodox narrative (e.g., we don’t see a key murder that most movies would’ve shown), make it a complex film that’s compelling, but not always great.

Bardem plays Anton Chigurh, a mercenary who’s tracking $2 million lost after a drug deal went wrong. He is a ruthless killer who murders with a cattle stun gun and sporadically flips a coin to allow his would-be victims to determine their fate. Bardem’s blank stares, emotionless dialogue and menacing walk make Anton the best screen villain since Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Anything less than a supporting actor Oscar for Bardem would be an injustice.

As if Anton needs any help, a transponder was left in the satchel of missing money, which leads him to Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), a local hunter who found the loot and lives with his wife (Kelly Macdonald) in a nearby trailer park. Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) — a grizzled old coot who’s given a wife (Tess Harper), uncle (Barry Corbin) and an assistant (Garret Dillahunt) to play off of — is always a step behind Anton and Llewelyn, but, because of his prolonged absence, he never quite fits into the story. While he is clearly the tale’s moral center, his metaphorical turns-of-phrase are a bit high-minded for a story with such carnage.

For that matter, the film also doesn’t need the subplot involving Carson Wells (Woody Harrelson), a bounty hunter hired by the corporate exec (Stephen Root) who lost his $2 million. Carson has two scenes of note — one with the corporate goon, another with Llewelyn — and in both his sole purpose is to exacerbate Anton’s psychopathic dangerousness, as if that’s necessary.

No Country for Old Men is a critical darling, but unlikely to find box office success. Critics, for better or worse, enjoy extolling the virtues of challenging cinema that doesn’t offer easy answers. But, at times, No Country nearly morphs into an existential treatise on life and the dangers of greed with ill-fitting pretentiousness.

If you see it — and it’s worth going for Bardem’s performance alone — try to look past all the metaphors and embrace the drama of a great chase between a cold-blooded killer and a hunter with an unwelcome death wish.

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