ontheedgeofeverything

I know, I know. This movie certainly isn’t a new release; it actually premiered in 2007, but I haven’t gotten around to watching it until now.

Perhaps you could say I’ve been allowing my anticipation to build. Like, really build.

Anyways, because I just recently viewed this masterpiece, I wanted to give a review of it in case there are other folks out there who, like me, are a bit behind in their movie watching.

No Country for Old Men “is a 2007 American neo-Western crime thriller film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, based on Cormac McCarthy‘s 2005 novel of the same name,^[1] starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin,” the movie’s Wikipedia Page states.

The movie follows Llewelyn, played by Brolin, a retired welder and Vietnam War Veteran and his somewhat unfortunate discovery of a drug deal gone wrong in the West Texas desert in 1980. Llewelyn quickly gains Chigurh, played by Bardem, as a violent, diabolical, and very odd enemy, and the film follows their pursuit to kill one another and the obstacles they encounter along the way.

Javier Bardem, who plays Chigurh in the movie, is positively astounding in his role. His character is extremely humourless, disturbed, aggressive and creepy, and Bardem’s performance as Chigurh is quite honestly some of the best acting I’ve ever seen in terms of how realistically he portrays his character. Brolin as Llewelyn is also incredible, and I question whether any other actors would have been able to play these characters as effectively as these two men do.

This movie is violent as well as gory, but I wouldn’t say the gore is excessive. Violence is arguably a central trope of the film, so if you’re not one for shootouts and intense injury, I would avoid watching this one if I were you. But, if gore and violence don’t bother you too intensely, I cannot recommend this movie enough.

Image from https://static01.nyt.com/images/2007/11/08/arts/09count600.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale