No Country for Old Men (spoiler content)

[DougF]

I loved this movie as most people but I hear alot of knocking of the ending. Personally, I thought the movie had a great finish. It wasn't a neat and tidy ending like just about everyone excepts from Hollywood, but it was a "realistic" ending. To me, the opening segment with the Tommy Lee Jones talkover explaining how he and generations of local sheriffs before him never needed and never did carry guns is vitally important to the "moral" of the story. The characters in the film are intended to both be realistic on the surface but also represent symbols of the effects of both the drug trade and the increased violence on our society. The Josh Brolin character is the average everyman who falls to the temptation of stealing the drug money and it ends up being his undoing. The hitman Chigur is representive of all that is evil in this story. He couldn't die at the end of the movie because, just like the drug trade and violence itself, he can maybe be damaged but he never really gets killed off. The very final sequence where the retired and overwhelmed Tommy Lee Jones tells of his dream I feel is also important. His father is leading him through the cold mountins with the fire in the horn, symbolically leading him out of all the violence to a place of security. I think this movie had an underlying theme that I'm not sure everyone picked up on. This is my take anyway.

P.S. I really love my Classic 50's Tele with its CS Nocaster pups !!

[Skully]

Apparently, the ending is exactly like the book, with Jones' speech lifter verbatim. But I haven't checked myself, so don't shoot me if I'm wrong.

[Doug Ferguson]

I'm with you, Doug. That was an excellent ending; got you reflecting back over the whole course of the movie. I also think another theme might be that sometimes you don't don't get to finish what you start; someone else will have to take your place. The key is knowing when to step out to allow that person to step in. It's never easy, but it's necessary. I'm anixously awaiting DVD. It'll be a great addition to my Coen Bros. collection.

[odiemann]

Best movie this year. The ending was perfect. It was true to the book and it was the Coen brothers apologizing for "Fargo."

The opening speech, I took as a representing the cyclical nature of violence. His brother's story about the real way their grandpa died proved that to me.

[Colo Springs E]

Originally Posted by odiemann

Best movie this year. The ending was perfect. It was true to the book and it was the Coen brothers apologizing for "Fargo."

The opening speech, I took as a representing the cyclical nature of violence. His brother's story about the real way their grandpa died proved that to me.

....apologize for "Fargo?"

Easily one of my favorite movies, loved it!

[TeleBrew]

I'm reading the book right now, having seen the movie opening weekend, whenever that was. Big Coen Bros fan, and I think I might become a Cormac McCarthy fan, too, if his other novels are as good as this one. The dialogue in the film is lifted straight from the pages of the book for most of it.

I love Coen Bros' movies, but I liked that they didn't put many of their trademarks into it, and let the source material speak for itself instead.

[lewis]

I read the book, saw the movie.
I was more impressed with the movie.

[Unseen]

This movie has the scariest villain since Dennis Hopper's depiction of Frank Booth in David Lynch's classic Blue Velvet. Wonderful irony about that is that this villain is played by Javier Bardem, who usually plays romantic leads, as in The Dancer Upstairs (directed by John Malkovich).

I haven't seen all of the Oscar nominees, but they'd have to go pretty far to top No Country For Old Men.

[Jorge]

I liked it all until the ending, I am not a big fan of hollywood endings either so the concept of it was good, but it felt like they really didn't pull it of. Good movie otherwise.

[odiemann]

Quote:
Originally Posted by odiemann View Post
Best movie this year. The ending was perfect. It was true to the book and it was the Coen brothers apologizing for "Fargo."

The opening speech, I took as a representing the cyclical nature of violence. His brother's story about the real way their grandpa died proved that to me.
....apologize for "Fargo?"

Easily one of my favorite movies, loved it!
__________________

As did I. Joel C. has said in several interviews that he felt bullied by the studio into making that ending for "Fargo." He stated that he wanted something not so neatly complete. At the time, they didn't have the clout.

That's what I meant. I do think the end of "Fargo" is a little different than the rest of the movie, but I like it. And I see what he meant.

[Jorge]

Speaking of "best movies this year", I would vote for Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford, just amazing.

[rhomco]

The ending is the perfect set up for a sequel. I would go see it.

[AngelStrummer]

I'm really excited about this movie. I tried to go and see it last night but the movie theatre was fully booked. Oh well, it'll be next week then.

[Crotalus Atrox]

Originally Posted by Jorge

Speaking of "best movies this year", I would vote for Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford, just amazing.

I've been meaning to see that, but it's out of local theaters. My brother told me the look and feel of it was utterly convincing.

Another strong vote here for "No Country". I've been recommending it to people, telling them that even it they don't like it overall they will be stunned by many of the individual scenes. I'm planning to see it again while it's still on the big screen.

[Skully]

Speaking of "best movies this year", I would vote for Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford, just amazing.

It's an interesting movie, but be forewarned -- it's very slow.

On a side note, although Casey Affleck is nominated for Best Supporting Actor, he definitely has the lead role in the film, not Brad Pitt.

[Mickey]

I read the book first and was knocked out. Never had read one of his books before but he's a grandmaster. The book is about moral decay.

Then I was really disappointed by the movie. Not that it didn't look exactly like the pictures in my head while reading, cause it did. Perfect. And it had about 99.44% of the original dialogue from the book. But ...

By skipping that .66% they edited out the sheriffs sense that there exists some stable truth, some moral order, that it can be felt even if it can't be proven. Some lines that didn't make it:

The stories gets passed on and the truth gets passed over. As the sayin goes. Which I reckon some would take as meanin that the truth cant compete. But I don't believe that. I think that when the lies are all told and forgot the truth will be there yet. It dont move about from place to place and it dont change from time to time. You cant corrupt it any more than you can salt. You cant corrupt it because that's what it is. (p. 123).

And elsewhere, some lines that take that kind of stability seriously, even if it's now been lost:

"You can't go to war without God. I dont know what is goin to happen when the next one comes. I surely dont."

But in the movie you're tossed into a violent sea and there's no credible anchor anywhere. Watching it reminded me of this painting of animals in the wild, war of all against all.


Franz Marc, "Animal Fate" (Tiershiksale)

That's my sense of it. I'd be interested in other opinions.

[RumorsofsurF]

I watched "No Country" last night, and my friend just sat there at the end, staring at the screen. I don't think he got it.

I thought the movie was brilliant. I must read the book now!

Should be a great addition to my Coen Brothers collection as well.

[E.D. Patton]

Originally Posted by odiemann

Best movie this year. The ending was perfect. It was true to the book and it was the Coen brothers apologizing for "Fargo."

"The Ladykillers" required an apology.

Not so sure about "Fargo".

[sunkidd]

When does "No Country" come out on DVD?

[allen st. john]

I liked the beginning and the ending fine.
The stuff in the middle, not so much.
I'm a huge Coen Bros fan, and I'm not at all squeamish about violence.
But the middle reminded me of just another mad slasher movie, with quirkier sets, better photography, and better dialogue.
Still, it was pretty much Freddy Kruger/Michael Myers stuff, Rasputin on Steroids, and I expected better.

I'm sure I'd like it better than Atonement, though.

Allen

PS: What, no Oscar nods for Grindhouse? "The nominees for the best performance as an bikini clad amputee with a semi-automatic prosthetic leg are..."

[Doug Ferguson]

Originally Posted by sunkidd

When does "No Country" come out on DVD?

March 11. I just ordered a copy!

http://www.amazon.com/Country-Old-Me...3438915&sr=8-1

[thunderbyrd]

Well, now that it's out on dvd and won "best picture" and all, maybe no one will mind if this thread gets resurrected.

SPOILERS AHEAD!




i've read all of cormac mccarthy and was looking forward much to NCFOM. i wasn't totally pleased with it nor totally disgusted with it. i felt that the impact of Ed Tom walking off the case was disipated some in the movie. i felt like cormac wanted the reader to feel a certain horror at an evil which is beyond the capacity of our best men to even understand, much less fight against - and i don't know how much that came through or not. i almost wished i'd never read the novel before i saw the movie, then i could judge it's impact more.

but think about this: NCFOM is set in 1980. Mccarthy's next novel, The Road is set some indefinte time in the near future. at the end of NCFOM, we are left with an incomprehensable evil, swallowing the world....then, the Road begins with the world totally destroyed.

i'm really looking forward to his next novel!

[Unseen]

Originally Posted by sunkidd

When does "No Country" come out on DVD?

It's out now!