No Country for Old Men

An atmospheric and chilling, deadly quiet and coldly rough thriller, with the unique creative signature of the Coen brothers. In the end, it tries to look like great art and the audience has no problem buying it. After a few ventures into comedy, the Coen brothers have returned to the genre where I like them most. My teenage nightmares were haunted by Michael Myers; today it’s going to be Javier Bardem’s killer. And not even the sheriff played by Tommy Lee Jones can save me from him. (19/02/2008)

I don't give a damn about journalistic glorification, this film is strong in the details, but unremarkable as a whole. Let's shed a tear at the memory of the brilliant Fargo, the Coens have been getting a bit stale in the last four years. I missed a twist (semi-pathologically spoken moralities don't make a film witty), I missed the Coens' greatest weapon, which has always been a strong story, I missed their typical sense of absurdity and exaggeration, I missed quite a lot here. Bardem's assassin, the character that carries the whole, is neither substantial nor interesting enough that I would already, as overseas publicists are doing with gusto, place this essentially very simple film alongside famous classics. I expect something more from an "unforgettable" film than a banal chase and a one-man-show of one violent mind. Sorry, guys. I attribute the mostly ecstatic enthusiasm for this piece to the well-deserved reputation the talented brothers have earned over their career. (09/01/2008)

That's what I call courage — making a whole movie with no music. What's interesting is that I didn't mind at all. Otherwise, the Coen brothers play a classic game of cat and mouse, arming the cat with an air pistol (amazing idea by the way) and the mouse with a shotgun loaded with tent stakes. The atmosphere is built brilliantly, and the insertion of the philosophizing Tommy Lee Jones gives the story the right flair. The Oscars for Bardem and both directors are definitely deserved. I'm a little surprised about the award for best motion picture, but it's good that the golden statuette was given to this type of movie again. A slightly weak five stars. (26/02/2008)

A deadly thrilling neo-western with ruggedly honest tradition. What the mournful narrator tells is not just a tale of a worthy and evil pursuer, but also a multi-layered testament that old times cannot be brought back. Originality in every step, a maddeningly oppressive silence, and a feeling that this story could have been even a good bit longer. (25/12/2009)

I don't mind anything about this film, not even the fact that the Coens’ gave more space to Cormac McCarthy's style than to their own. Their contribution to the excellent template is, above all, precise technical packaging and the traditionally great choice of types. I will never forget Bardem's evil eyes, Brolin's mustache and appearance evoke the tough guys of the 1970s, and Tommy Lee Jones is just as scared and old-fashioned as Sheriff Bell is supposed to be. The broken structure of the story, the missing threads of motivation and the denial of violence as cool props - No Country for Old Men is not a matter of great exaggeration, but rather of chilling black humor. It is a portrait of a world that used to have its protectors of good and its firm laws, but now there is nothing left. Perhaps just the coin from 1958. Call it! The Oscar did not miss the mark this year. (17/03/2008)