Review: No Country for Old Men - Directed by the Coen Brothers
Rated R for strong violence and harsh language

You know those kinds of movies that have you leaving the theater with an utter sense of dread? The kind that make the world seem just a little less bright? Well No Country for Old Men is just such a movie.

In the Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men, Vietnam vet Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) stumbles upon a drug deal gone bad and walks away with a case full of hundred dollar bills. However, he soon finds himself being hunted by Mexican hitmen, the local sheriff, and one of the greatest villains in all of cinema.

There's a line in the movie in which Brolin asks, "Who's this guy supposed to be, the ultimate badass?" I can think of no better word to describe Javier Bardem as the psychopathic Anton Chigurh. A heartless killer with a twisted sense of morals, his weapons of choice are a silenced shotgun and some kind of compressed air puncture device--and damn if he doesn't know how to use them. Everything about this performance is unsettling, from Javier's unusual accent to his calculating stare and demeanor. Not since Hannibal Lecter has pure evil been so frighteningly portrayed on film.

Case in point, for no particular reason other than to satisfy his own warped view of the world, Chigurh lets the flip of a coin determine the fate of a gas station attendant. The dialog between the two is the kind of mixture of dark humor and gut-wrenching suspense that you wont soon forget. You can just see it in Bardem's eyes that he's capable of anything.

This movie is polished. Through and through. Every scene, every piece of dialog, even every movement by each character...all glimmering from the Coen Brothers' astute attention to detail and meticulous planning. It is the kind of suspense thriller that grabs you--heart and mind--from start to finish and even a bit afterward.

Simply put, No Country for Old Men is unlike any movie you will see this year. With a superb and spot on cast, this captivating crime narrative will have you begging for more. Definitely worth multiple viewings, do yourself a favor and see it at least once on the big screen.

Rating: 5 / 5