The Coens venture into uncharted Country

No Country for Old Men
Rated R for: strong graphic violence and some language
Running Time: 2 hr, 2 min
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Woody Harrelson

Rating: Two and a half stars (out of four)

In select theatres now


I've seen five movies from the Coen brothers now, and loved three of them: Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Big Lebowski and the criminally underrated and little seen The Man Who Wasn't There. I was neutral on Fargo, yet, because of my adoration for the aforementioned films I enjoyed, I was very, very excited to catch their latest, No Country for Old Men.

Based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy, No Country is an unconventional thriller, and who better to do unconventional than the guys who managed to make a movie whose plot centered around a rug and a guy simply named The Dude immensely enjoyable?

No Country begins in the Texas desert, close to the border with Mexico. We hear Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones, doing what he does best, for better or worse) in voiceover, talking about the old days, back when things were black and white- good guys were good, bad guys were bad, and, he says, there was a time when a sheriff didn't even carry a gun; didn't need to really.

Ah, but things have changed, and the opening voiceover foreshadows what is to come.

Cut to our protagonist, Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin, whom you may remember as the creepy doctor in Grindhouse) out hunting in the desert when he stumbles upon a grizzly scene: Several abandoned pickup trucks, all turned into makeshift coffins for some poor, unsuspecting victims.

As he searches through the wreckage of a horrific murder, he finds a bag filled with money; about two million dollars worth, to be exact.

He soon finds out what we as an audience already kind of suspect: When you stumble across a murder scene and a load of cash, sometimes it may be best to leave temptation alone.

Of course, he doesn't, and thank goodness, because there wouldn't be a movie without this fateful decision.

That's where our villian comes in. Javier Bardem is probably best known in the states as star of the Spanish film The Sea Inside, which won the 2004 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Here he rivals Hannibal Lector in downright creepiness: He portrays Anton Chigurh, one of the most unrelenting, vicious, soulless serial killers to grace the screen in a long, long time. He's creepy in just the right way, and brilliant at the part.

As you have probably figured out by now, he's the rightful owner of the money Llewellen is now carrying. And he will stop at absolutely nothing to get it back. He also has no qualms about killing anyone and everyone in his path.

So, off Llewelyn goes, and from this point on it's a game of cat and mouse, with Sheriff Bell trying desperately to get to Llewelyn before Chigurh does. Not because he wants to arrest him, but because, he warns Llewelyn's wife, he wants to protect him. Because, he explains, Chigurgh is unstoppable.

And so it goes.





Unlike most thrillers, however, the twists here really are pretty damn unpredictable. Everything seems pretty conventional until the last third of the movie, when the Coens pull out all the stops.

And that, my friends, might be their downfall. I'm telling you right now, many people are going to hate this ending. Hell, I hated the ending at first, and I'm still not quite sure I liked it. I will say this: Given the context of the movie, the ending does make a lot of sense, even if you do end up hating it, and for that reason it has grown on me a bit.

Regardless, No Country for Old Men is an entertaining, unique film experience, and certainly worth your time, even if the ending gives you mixed feelings.

A Devil of a good time? Not so much.

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Rated R for: a scene of strong graphic sexuality, nudity, violence, drug use and language
Running Time: 1 hr, 57 min
Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei

Rating: Two stars (out of four)

In select theatres now



The Irish expression goes, "May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you're dead."

And for the first half an hour or so, this movie does kind of feel like heaven, or at least has the potential to be so. And while it doesn't end up being hell, it could certainly qualify for purgatory.

Sidney Lumet, the near legendary director responsible for films such as Network and Dog Day Afternoon, has created a movie that tries very hard to be smarter than the room and, while not quite succeeding, doesn't exactly fall flat on its face, either.

Credit that to the always great performances from Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke, who rise above mediocre material and breathe life into a film that would otherwise be very hard to sit through.

Hoffman plays Andy Hanson, a sleazy businessman in a desperate financial situation. He convinces his good-hearted brother, Hank (Ethan Hawke) to join him on a scheme that he guarantees will solve both their financial woes: Rob a jewelry store. And not just any jewelry store, mind you, but their parents' jewelry store.

Their plan is simple: Get in, get out, get the cash and some expensive jewelery, and make sure no one gets hurt and nothing gets complicated in the process. Things invariably go very, very wrong, and the brothers find themselves in trouble so deep they might not be able to make their way out of it.





It's not that the film is bad, really, it's that it just isn't very good. A robbery going wrong isn't exactly the freshest concept in the world, but credit Lumet and screenwriter Kelly Masterson for coming up with some original concepts. The problem is, just because something is original doesn't necessarily mean that it's all that interesting.

As mentioned, Hoffman is wonderful, as is Hawke. These aren't the best performances of their careers, but they do a fine job of making these characters leap out of the screen, at least as much as the material allows them. And Marissa Tomei isn't bad either as Andy's long-suffering wife.

There are, as you can imagine, quite a few twists and turns along the way, but nothing that really jumped out at me.

The structure of the movie, where scenes jump back and forth through time (specifically reminiscent of Memento) isn't distracting, really, but it doesn't add much to the film either. Unlike other films that have used this technique (the aforementioned Memento or, say, Pulp Fiction) you get the feeling that this one really didn't need that particular effect, which essentially makes it a gimick, unlike the examples listed. In other words, it's not a bad move, but it doesn't add to the movie much, either.

Of course, I could be wrong about that. I get the feeling it might take a second viewing to really decide if the techniques used are gimmicky or not.

Regardless, I'll probably never find out, because I really don't feel that Devil is worthy of a second chance. Take heed- it's not a bad flick, but not great either. It might be best to wait for DVD with this one.