No Country for Old Men Review - See it Before Reading

I went to see ‘No Country for Old Men’ last night. I’d like to tell you what I thought about it.

But firstly, I want to say that it was great to see the movie without knowing very much about it. True, I avoided reviews and write-ups but I also found fellow-bebians who have seen it to treat revelation of plot elements very carefully. It certainly would have been less of an experience to see, I everyone had blabbed about all the ins-and-outs of the story.

So thanks guys for that!

The reason I’m prattling on before I say anything is so that I don’t give away too much in the preview of the Blog which appears on the Bebo homepage of my friends. If you haven’t seen this film, you shouldn’t read any more of this turgid drivel until you have (and possibly not even then…)

Right I think we’re clear of the preview so here goes.

SPOILER WARNING
SPOILER WARNING


Everybody seemed to love this movie so I approached it with trepidation. My heightened expectations of any film usually end badly for me.

Anyway, I sat in. A lovely attentive audience (‘cept for one phallus with a crisp bag… but that way lies insanity), packed house, all set.

And I loved it!!

Man I just loved it, three brilliant central characters (of whom Josh Brolin ran away with all honours as far as I was concerned) a taut storyline, graphic violence, wry humour, magnificent cinematography, wow wow wow.

I loved it.

Until ten minutes before the end.

Cos that’s were my beloved Coen’s decided to honour the literary source material a damn sight more that they should have. They embraced the novel and, in doing so, they let the movie go.

I don’t want to give anything away, plot-wise and so I won’t. But these wonderful characters and their engaging conflict were abandoned mid-stream in favour of a diatribe (polemic… whatever) on mortality, morality and other worthy ‘M’ words.

I’m no fool. I saw all the plot points resolved, the questions answered (mostly… why didn’t Woody just go and get the bag when he saw it through the fence – Josh did) that’s all fine.

It’s just that I also saw the audience deliberately left high and dry in order to heighten the feeling of futility and pointlessness which was (perhaps) the theme of the movie. But that futility could have been similarly driven home by remaining true to the ‘story’ elements of the piece rather than just veering off into a series of scenes involving Tommy Lee Jones which owed little to all which had gone before.

You need a summary? Okay - loved the movie, hated the ending.

And, boy, I was not alone in that audience on that one.