OT: No Country For Old Men (May be Spoilers)

[JackB1]

Finally got to see this one tonite and am a little puzzled at all the accolades this movie got. I thought it was just OK. I thought the guy that played the creepy killer was great and there were some tense moments throughout but all in all I just didnt get it. The movie was very slow moving and draggy in parts and lots of the dialogue was mumbled and hard to understand. And The Ending was horrible, unless I didn't get something. When Tommy Lee Jones was describing his dream to this wife, I thought there would be some deep message that would tie everything up, but it didn't. I am guessing the overall message of the movie was that things are going to happen and there's sometimes nothing you can do to stop your fate.

Was wondering if anyone else saw it and what they thought. Was there some deeper meaning to the end that I missed?

[LAking]

Finally got to see this one tonite and am a little puzzled at all the accolades this movie got. I thought it was just OK. I thought the guy that played the creepy killer was great and there were some tense moments throughout but all in all I just didnt get it. The movie was very slow moving and draggy in parts and lots of the dialogue was mumbled and hard to understand. And The Ending was horrible, unless I didn't get something. When Tommy Lee Jones was describing his dream to this wife, I thought there would be some deep message that would tie everything up, but it didn't. I am guessing the overall message of the movie was that things are going to happen and there's sometimes nothing you can do to stop your fate.

Was wondering if anyone else saw it and what they thought. Was there some deeper meaning to the end that I missed?

It's more than just fate, it's more specifically about violence and the way the world is changing. It is no longer a "country for old men". Tommy Lee Jones' character is feeling increasingly helpless as the world becomes a more dangerous place. There is so much "evil" and he feels that he can no longer do anything to stop it.

Javior Bardem's character is symbolic of the ever increasing violence. You could even argue he isn't even real, perhaps a ghost like figure. He is simply an unstoppable force.

I for one loved the methodical, tense pace of the movie. It was a Coen Bros. film to the core. A beautifully shot film with moments of great suspense, shocking horror, and dark humor that feels very "American". Nearly all of the Coen Bros. films feel that way. The ending was perfect. Nothing is resolved, just as there is no resolution to many of the horrors we witness today. Ed Tom Bell is just coming to grips with that reality.

I don't think the dream was meant to be some nice tidy "message" for the audience to easily pick up and say "oh ok, now i know exactly what the movie is about". I believe you are meant to dwell on it, just as Ed does, and make your own interpretations.

EDIT: Here's a nice analysis of the last part of the film. Good reading.

http://glennkenny.premiere.com/blog/200 ... d-a-d.html

[spooky157]

I finally saw this last night. While I really liked it I zoned out for a couple of minutes while thinking about which ballpark I was going to play in for my first game of MLB the show. Unfortunately those few minutes were the very end...which was a total sucker punch.

The theme of fate and chance being intertwined was intriguing. Just when you think you knew what was coming to someone, something completely different happens.

The scenes with Tommy Lee Jones were really slow but I think that was intentional....you never feel like he was ever close to catching up with either Bardem's or Brolin's characters. He's just too old, and with his dimwitted deputy, they were hopelessly overmatched.

[greggsand]

I loved the movie. I read the book, & it makes for a great companion to the film. It fleshes out a number of details the movie breezes over (for example, who ended up with money??).

And yes, it basically is about how the world is going to hell & "faster, stronger" versions of evil a born everyday.

BTW, Josh Brolin rules...

[anchester]

i loved the movie. the message was sort of anti religion. basically the world is controlled completely by chance. w/o any sort of caring about basic fellow man, the world degenerates into a selfish, hellish place.

yes, the movie was slow, but for a reason....the tension is so thick in parts b/c of this, and the dialogue was very smart.

My favorite movie in years.

Its the anti-transformers (throw away mass market crap).

[LAking]

i loved the movie. the message was sort of anti religion. basically the world is controlled completely by chance. w/o any sort of caring about basic fellow man, the world degenerates into a selfish, hellish place.

yes, the movie was slow, but for a reason....the tension is so thick in parts b/c of this, and the dialogue was very smart.

My favorite movie in years.

Its the anti-transformers (throw away mass market crap).

To say the movie is anti-religion might be going a little far. I could see how you could take that from it but I doubt that was really the intention.

It's interesting to point out that although the character of Ed keeps talking about how the past was better than the present, there are hints in the film that that really isn't the case. It's more that he is just getting old and has a rosy, nostalgic view of a past that never existed. The article i linked above goes into the detail about this. Interesting stuff.

It's such a complex film yet so entertaining as well.

[macsomjrr]

I saw this a couple of weeks ago and also wasn't terribly impressed by it. Javier Bardem was awesome and to me the only saving grace of the movie because his character was so interesting. His total disconnect with a prevailing sense of societal morality had me hooked from the beginning (***SPOILER*** i.e. jacking that poor guys car and calmly placing his air weapon on his forehead before pulling the trigger). I'd probably give the movie as a whole a 7/10 but it'd easily be a 6.0 w/o Bardem.

[Slumberland]

You're not alone, Jack. I liked it but didn't love it (even though the pitbull chasing Josh Brolin across the water was one of my favorite film images from last year). I don't really care how closely it hewed to the book, which is apparently the justification for the pacing and narrative choices of the last 1/4 of the film.

A funny dissent from respected screenwriter Bob Gale:

http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2008/02/n ... logic.html