Just finished watching No Country for Old Men. I haven’t seen enough of the Coen brothers’ work to judge whether this was as much of a departure as it seemed — I’ve seen Raising Arizona, O Brother Where Art Thou?, and Fargo. Of the three, it reminded me most of Fargo, being as dark as it was; but the Southwestern scenery and people reminded me of Raising Arizona.
One thing I like about the Coen brothers is the quirky characters. They have something odd about them all; some subtly, some not so much. Javier Bardem’s character Anton Chigurh was chilling. It’s like he didn’t feel anything. There were several times when he did things I didn’t expect — at least at that exact moment — which I love (predictable movies are boring movies).
Tommy Lee Jones was understated, which was a blessing. Woody Harrelson is annoying in everything he does, and I mean everything. Josh Brolin was very believable, and I did not expect how things turned out for any of the three main male leads. Another pleasant surprise, to not be surprised.
And WOW, I could not believe that Carla Jean was Kelly Macdonald - Diane from Trainspotting - with that West Texas accent! There was not a trace of the Glaswegian accent. I was thinking that it looked a lot like her, but that couldn’t be her, but boy was I wrong. Yet another unexpected nugget.
I was definitely engrossed. I was not sure I’d like it, but I did. Three stars.
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