Comments on: No Country for Old Men Reconsidered

By: Tom

Tom — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 02:02:40 +0000

This movie really bothered me. The thought that there are really people out there in the world like Anton Chigurh scares me to death.

By: ed biblioklept

ed biblioklept — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 16:55:25 +0000

The Coens kinda gave a nod to the Moss/hitchhiker scenes with the girl at the motel bit…perhaps to add that little extra dash of ambiguity to Moss’s fidelity, etc. I think you’re spot on about the lack of soundtrack, Mr. Onion. I was so annoyed that everyone hailed *The Departed* as a work of genius; it was a big noisy mess (not entirely bad, of course, but there was hardly a scene in the first hour without a loud pop song blaring over the action)…

By: Nick Plowman

Nick Plowman — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 11:16:19 +0000

“I thought the best scenes in the book were with Moss and the hitchhiker girl: I was sad those were left out.”

I agree.

By: petersonion

petersonion — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 22:51:45 +0000

I thought the best scenes in the book were with Moss and the hitchhiker girl: I was sad those were left out.

I did appreciate the total lack of a soundtrack. I hate it when movies have to achieve their emotional depth by means of music.

By: Dave

Dave — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 15:57:05 +0000

I agree completely. I found myself wanting the movie to be good because I found the book so profound. At first, the visual perfection of the film made me think it did measure up to the book. But by the next morning, I had reappraised it. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how much exposition had been omitted and how — had I not read the book — jarringly gap-filled the movie was. Still, it’s a landmark. But it should have been a 3 hour movie.

By: Nick Plowman

Nick Plowman — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 18:29:35 +0000

Thanks for the link-love.

It is no way better than Fargo, that is a MASTERPIECE of the best kind. I understand how you feel though, I know a few people who felt the same as you, and I respect your opinion.

By: ed

ed — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 15:49:24 +0000

Backwards:
1. Nick’s (well-written) review of No Country:
http://fataculture.wordpress.com/2008/03/15/no-country-for-old-men-2007/
I don’t think the film is even heavily flawed…I just think it fails to say something other than: “People tend to be violent and greedy”–of course, there is no obligation for a film to be morally didactic, or to convey some greater theme…I just didn’t find the film as affecting or re-watchable, as, say, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, or O Brother, Where Art Thou? (I’m not, of course, arguing that it has to be compared to other Coen movies (even though I’m doing precisely that right here…). As far as movies that I saw in 2007 (in the theater), I didn’t think it was nearly as good as Children of Men or Superbad. Again, unfair comparisons–I’m just talking about how I felt when I saw it.
Again, for the record–I think No Country is a good film, better than 95% of what comes out. I just don’t think it’s great.
2. Mike: Intolerable Cruelty is, at best, silly fun; at worst it’s pure hokum and misdirection. And excellent cinematography.
3. Aaron, I’m not really sure what you’re saying. Are you saying that we, now, are “citizens of a particular time”–that is, this time, 2008–”rife with greed and injustice”? Because, I think the whole point of the book–a point the film fails to explicitly deliver on–is that greed and injustice are *not* era-specific behaviors, but rather intrinsic to the human (Darwinian) condition.

By: Nick Plowman

Nick Plowman — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 13:47:58 +0000

No Country is amazing, in every way. I cannot see a fault in it. Not a single one.

By: Mike Barrett

Mike Barrett — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 03:06:15 +0000

i loved *intolerable cruelty*. a better indictment of the absurdity of the law i’ve never seen.

By: Aaron Plewke

Aaron Plewke — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 23:56:24 +0000

i’d say that’s a fair appraisal of the film…critical but objective. still, i don’t think it accounts for context. the viewer comes to this as a citizen of a particular time, rife with greed and injustice.