No Country for Old Men

I saw this film a few days ago, but needed to see it once more before I shared my thoughts on it, and it is a film that needs to be seen twice as the dialogue and visual information falls into place much more firmly upon the second viewing, and it will swirl in your head long after leaving the theater after the first viewing.

The film's final act is somewhat telegraphed in Sherrif Tom's narration that opens the film, but the ride the Coen brothers takes the viewers on is so absorbing and immersive at times, it's easy to forget the early stuff, and then when it comes back around full circle, inside your head you'll go "whoa..."

In some ways, it's a look at the escalation of violence in society (somewhat timeless, though the story is set in 1980), be it for greed, anger, meanness, or vanity as a trigger for it, and how those in law enforcement who are fortunate to have a longer view of history will eventually have to embrace the ever-evolving and raising of the stakes when it comes to violence, or step aside, because the value of human life has slowly eroded with the escalation of acceptable violence in society in service to other vices and malevolence.

The Coen brothers adapted this book by Cormac McCarthy, and in doing so, they get to imbue in the character of Moss a stubborn streak of humanity (in over his head, but given the circumstances of finding a suitcase of money connected to a drug deal gone bad, can't really elicit much help, placing himself and his wife in a catch-22) in light of being hunted by Chigurh, who is a primal force of violence (when required, never afraid to push the envelope of violence, but also accepting of the nature of chance for life's uncertainties), and is always adaptive to his surroundings, but even has a sense of honor in the midst of the mayhem he so easily creates because his propensity to use violence is so far higher than regular folks.

The cat-n-mouse portion of the film between Moss and Chigurh for 4/5 of the film is engaging and very involving as the tension levels just continue to build from scene to scene. But it's Sherrif Tom's hunt for Moss (and by default Chigurh) that concludes in the final section that lends a quiet but powerful resonance to the film's overall observation of the erosion of the value of life in service to greed, power and violence.

I give it 4 stars, or a grade of A.