On Saturday I got to see the new Coen brothers movie, No Country For Old Men, and I have to say I was so glad to not have read or heard a single thing about the movie prior to watching it. Why? Because it would been a tremendous letdown … as opposed to just a letdown, which is what it was.
Usually after watching a movie I think about it for a little while, digesting all its finer points, and then move on. Every once in a while, if the movie was either really great or terrible or both at the same time, I’ll go online to see what other people are saying. So here is what gets to me about this movie: I had to go through about of 20 or 30 two-thumbs-up reviews that all seemed to have their heads up the Coen’s collective rectum, before I found something I agreed with. Here are two reviews that sum up exactly how I felt about this movie:
“I appreciate No Country for Old Men for the skill in the film craft. I understand No Country for Old Men for its penetrating disquisition on narrative conventions and its heroic will in subverting them. I admire No Country for Old Men for the way it tightens its grip as it progresses, taking us deeper and deeper into a hellish world. I just don’t like it very much.”
— Stephen Hunter, Washington Post
and this essentially sums up why I did not like it:
“The Coen brothers have never really accepted the idea that a movie has to have a plot. Offbeat characters, sure. Oblique dialogue that sounds meaningful and occasionally is so, absolutely. Eye-catching cinematography and a subtle, mood-reinforcing soundtrack, no question. Irony layered on thickly as cheese in good lasagna, yes. But a narrative that makes sense from end to end? Well, one doesn’t have room for everything.”
— Lawrence Toppman, Charlotte Observer
The characters are great. The cinematography is awesome. A lot about this movie is just plain fantastic, but when put together it simply doesn’t work. It’s not that the movie lacks a plot entirely, but there are such big letdowns throughout, and particularly at the end, I felt as if I had slept through some vital part. In fact, when the movie was supposed to climax … you know … the part where the cat and mouse game between the main characters culminates in a grand finale that leaves you feeling either elated with triumph or devastated with sorrow … well I felt absolutely nothing. It would be hard to say more without a potential spoiler, so I’ll leave you with this. See it on DVD if you’re looking for something off-beat.
