I took Peter’s advice and went to see No Country for Old Men over the weekend. This is indeed the Coen brothers at their absolute best (which is saying something), as well as a welcome return to the bleak terrain of Blood Simple, the film that made their name in 1984.
The core of the movie is a trio of fine performances: Josh Brolin as the guy who stumbles into the aftermath of a drugs shoot-out and takes the cash, Tommy Lee Jones as the baffled, weather-beaten sheriff and Javier Bardem as the psychotic hitman and collector, Anton Chigurh.
The film is worth seeing for Bardem’s Golden Globe-winning performance alone which is quite simply one of the most chilling evocations of evil ever brought to the screen. Chigurh’s occasional clumsiness, unexplained exoticism and preposterous haircut only add to his menace.
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