[Movie] No Country For Old Men (82)

After finishing No Country For Old Men no less than ten minutes ago, I wanted to get my immediate reactions down on virtual paper as soon as possible.

And my very first thought, however minute: Did that movie have ANY music? At all?

Overall, my immediate reaction is that it is a good, but not great, movie. Is it symbolic or just trying to be symbolic? I mean, I am no slouch in the literary devices department, but the allegory at the end of the movie left me curious. Not bewildered, but definitely curious. I even rewound it once to try to get my head around it.

Is there a "good guy" in the movie? Who are we pulling for? I at first thought Llewelyn was a bit of "that guy," but maybe it is Ed Tom. Heck, maybe it's no one, which is something I feel like I've been seeing a lot lately (There Will Be Blood?). I've heard that in the book (the movie's basis, naturally), Ed Tom is a bit more of a main character, as compared to the movie, which felt to me, like a struggle between Chigurh and Llewelyn. To me, it would have been nice to have the viewers pushed more toward rallying around the sheriff at the beginning, because the movie closes around him (and thematically, seems to be about him). Instead, the typical viewer is (understandably) obsessed with Chigurh's visceral killings -- even though Ed Tom technically opens the movie.

A definite cool part of the movie is the ability to generate a lot of good discussion around it. In fact, the more I just think about the movie, the more questions I have, highlighted by this: "What was Chigurh's motivation the entire movie?" (Or was he just insane?). Perhaps Chigurh serves the purpose of pushing forward a main theme of the movie: justice.

My least favorite part -- the Lady or the Tiger throwback with Carla Jean. Gosh, just tell me what happens.

To pick one word to summarize this movie: "deliberate." Every action, piece of dialogue, and glimpse of scenery felt completely purposeful and almost expected. No Country is interesting, definitely worth a watch, but I feel like this tried too hard to be too deep. (I've been warned about this -- Nathan -- so we'll see if my opinion changes).

No Country For Old Men Rating: 82 / 100
Subratings:
Acting: 9/10 (minus a point for Carla Jean)
Scenery, "Feel" of being there: 10/10
Soundtrack: Yeah, okay