Ralph's Movie Reviews: NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

Saturday, November 17, 2007

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

2008 Best Picture
Best Actor in Supporting Role
Best Directing

Crime drama

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Javier Bardem: Anton Chigurh (pronounced "Sh-gurr")
Josh Brolin: Vietnam vet and hunter Llewelyn Moss
Tommy Lee Jones: Sheriff Ed Tom Bell
Garret Dillahunt: Deputy Wendell
Kelly Macdonald: Llewelyn’s wife Carla Jean
Woody Harrelson: Carson Wells, a bounty hunter

REVIEW
The outstanding production values come about from the unmistakable touch of the Cohen brothers (of Fargo fame) who wrote and directed the film coupled with the cinemaphotography of Roger Deakins (most recently The Assassination of Jesse James). Add to that the superb sound effects, great acting, a suspenseful well-constructed story and you get one dandy film.

Although it is over 2 hours long, it does not seem like it as it moves along at its own pace. There is not a lot that could be edited out, except for the last two or three minutes. Change the ending and it gets one more star.

CLASSIFICATION

for some language and strong graphic violence (and they ain’t kiddin’).

P.S.
I couldn’t figure out how the title related to the movie itself. Turns out it comes from a line in a poem and I quote:
“As a literal paraphrase, the first stanza consists of the speaker describing his former country, a place that is not oriented toward the aged.”

Sailing To Byzantium
by William Butler Yeats

That is no country for old men. The young
In one another’s arms, birds in the trees etc etc

No comments:

Post a Comment

my ratings system

I've always thought that telling too much about a movie or warning someone about a "twist" at the end deprives the person the pleasure of seeing it as it unfolds, so I don’t do it. You may not always agree with my rating of course, but at least it is an unbiased opinion unlike some of the full time professional reviewers who are on the studio’s payroll.

A few movies you won’t see any review from me:

Scary movies: I’m the world’s biggest chicken and just hate getting the crap scared out of me. I can handle an unexpected door slam, that kind of thing, but a movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat…not for me. Sorry.
Movies geared to the young teen and pre-teen crowd with dialog comprising mostly of crude remarks, awful jokes and lots of rude, socially unacceptable body noises. "The Spy that Shagged Me" comes to mind. (I wonder if the kids know what the British verb to shag someone really means? They probably do; I bet you it’s the parents who haven’t a clue).
Sometimes Hollywood gets on a roll and they produce a series of movies that are all very much alike. For example movies about the CIA were very popular and so we had The Bourne Identity and Bad Company and The Sum of All Fears. They all had the same basic theme and it becomes repetitive. I will see some, but not all of them.

FYI this is my rating system:

0 stars = Terrible: so bad it’s not worth talking about; in fact, I’d pay you not to go
= Lousy: I actually got up and walked out before the end it was just that bad (no kidding)
= Not so good: thought about walking out but hung in just in case it got better (but it didn’t)
= A so-so good movie: I enjoyed it somewhat but wasn’t all that crazy about it
= A really good movie: I recommend seeing it
= An excellent movie you just got to see! I suggest you put it on your "To Do List" it’s that good.

some favourite websites

For those into it, Nitpickers at

has more movie mistakes than you could ever imagine. My contributions can be seen if you check out the Nitpickers Registry and click on the link Nitpickers Listed by Nitpicker Number, select the group 45,401 - 45,500 and drill down to number 45411. Although I have 56 nitpicks to my credit, some have almost 2,000. You wonder sometimes where they find the time to do it.