No Country for Old Men

[D-Dogg]

Did everybody want the weak, old sheriff who longed for the days of peacekeeping without a weapon to kill the "ultimate badass"?

No...I wanted less of TLJ and would have been more into the ending if evil had simply shuffled off into the sunset, as happens in real life. Anton would be killing out there some more. I honestly didn't care that TLJ had retired in failure, unable to beat down the baddies, overwhelmed by the violence of the world. I really didn't have any connection to his character...ending on him was lackluster, IMO. The point had already been made...his monologue at the end was just too much hammer on an already embedded nail.

Still, one of the best movies in a long time.

 

[Gizmo Williams]

The human aspect of Chigurh was shown in the accident at the end. This solidified his being man and he too can not escape the inevitable outcome, death.

No....he survived the horrible accident and relied on the kindness of others to continue on. I thought he did walk away just as the police were coming....I do not remember Chigurh dying at the end.

 

[Stout]

No, Chigurh (sp?) didn't die at the end, and he most certainly was no grim-reaper ghost either. He didn't kill the individual at the gas station, he was wounded by Lewellyn, and was injured pretty badly at the end, after taking a kid's shirt. The point of that last scene, by-the-by, was to parallell Chigurh and Lewellyn. He was hurt, he needed clothes and the kindness of others, and he paid someone else for helping to disguise him.

 

[Louis]

No....he survived the horrible accident and relied on the kindness of others to continue on. I thought he did walk away just as the police were coming....I do not remember Chigurh dying at the end.

No he didn't die. But the point being he can't escape fate.

 

[Gizmo Williams]

No he didn't die. But the point being he can't escape fate.

I actually thought the point of Chigurh walking away at the end was exactly the opposite....that the evil force eludes fate and continues on in the world.

 

[Louis]

I actually thought the point of Chigurh walking away at the end was exactly the opposite....that the evil force eludes fate and continues on in the world.

If the evil force eludes fate why did so many drug dealers die? Why do random Mexican "hitmen" die? Why does Woody Harrelson die? Why does the rich white guy die? Why does the kid who killed the teenage kid die in the sheriff's story?

 

[nashman]

Wow to each his own I guess, this movie was average and not all what some have made it out to be. How someone could say this is one of the best movies they have ever seen is just sad.

 

[Stout]

Wow to each his own I guess, this movie was average and not all what some have made it out to be. How someone could say this is one of the best movies they have ever seen is just sad.

How one person can tell another so completely how they should think is just sad.

You didn't like it. A lot. That's cool, I can understand someone not liking it, or thinking it was great. I find some of the greats impossible to watch myself. Let each have their own opinion, though.

 

[Gizmo Williams]

If the evil force eludes fate why did so many drug dealers die? Why do random Mexican "hitmen" die? Why does Woody Harrelson die? Why does the rich white guy die? Why does the kid who killed the teenage kid die in the sheriff's story?

All of these people are caught up in the web of the evil force and that is why they die. In the movies case, the drug trade and the deal going wrong sets up for the evil force to enter all these peoples lives. The people like the hotel clerk or Moss's wife who wind up dead represent the collateral damage or the innocent people who get caught up in the evil force. Chigurh is a representation of an emotionless, efficient force that brings death to anyone that gets entangled in the web. The sheriff is the force of good who becomes apathetic or overwhelmed by the evil forces and calls it a day.

 

[Louis]

Those are pretty good takes. And we both have a pretty pessimistic view of what the movie is trying to represent.

Initially that was my take. And boy do I need to rewatch this movie!

But taking into consideration that not everybody that crossed his path died (trailer park lady and gas station clerk) combined with the 2 speeches given to Moss's wife and that gas station clerk I came away with a feeling that this movie was about fate.

Anton Chigurh: What's the most you ever lost on a coin toss.
Gas Station Proprietor: Sir?
Anton Chigurh: The most. You ever lost. On a coin toss.
Gas Station Proprietor: I don't know. I couldn't say.
[Chigurh flips a quarter from the change on the counter and covers it with his hand]
Anton Chigurh: Call it.
Gas Station Proprietor: Call it?
Anton Chigurh: Yes.
Gas Station Proprietor: For what?
Anton Chigurh: Just call it.
Gas Station Proprietor: Well, we need to know what we're calling it for here.
Anton Chigurh: You need to call it. I can't call it for you. It wouldn't be fair.
Gas Station Proprietor: I didn't put nothin' up.
Anton Chigurh: Yes, you did. You've been putting it up your whole life you just didn't know it. You know what date is on this coin?
Gas Station Proprietor: No.
Anton Chigurh: 1958. It's been traveling twenty-two years to get here. And now it's here. And it's either heads or tails. And you have to say. Call it.
Gas Station Proprietor: Look, I need to know what I stand to win.
Anton Chigurh: Everything.
Gas Station Proprietor: How's that?
Anton Chigurh: You stand to win everything. Call it.
Gas Station Proprietor: Alright. Heads then.
[Chigurh removes his hand, revealing the coin is indeed heads]
Anton Chigurh: Well done.
[the gas station proprietor nervously takes the quarter with the small pile of change he's apparently won while Chigurh starts out]
Anton Chigurh: Don't put it in your pocket, sir. Don't put it in your pocket. It's your lucky quarter.
Gas Station Proprietor: Where do you want me to put it?
Anton Chigurh: Anywhere not in your pocket. Where it'll get mixed in with the others and become just a coin. Which it is.
[Chigurh leaves and the gas station proprietor stares at him as he walks out]

Carla Jean Moss: You don't have to do this.
Anton Chigurh: [smiles] People always say the same thing.
Carla Jean Moss: What do they say?
Anton Chigurh: They say, "You don't have to do this."
Carla Jean Moss: You don't.
Anton Chigurh: Okay.
[Chigurh flips a coin and covers it with his hand]
Anton Chigurh: This is the best I can do. Call it.
Carla Jean Moss: I knowed you was crazy when I saw you sitting there. I knowed exactly what was in store for me.
Anton Chigurh: Call it.
Carla Jean Moss: No. I ain't gonna call it.
Anton Chigurh: Call it.
Carla Jean Moss: The coin don't have no say. It's just you.
Anton Chigurh: Well, I got here the same way the coin did.

Good stufff.

 

[Bob Chebat]

The selection of best movie is not based on the story, but how a story is adapted to film. The acting, the sets, wardrobe, etc... As they usually do, the Coen brothers took this story, which was very dark, and set it to film.

I agree that the ending was cheap, but apparently that is how it ends. Bad guy gets away, cop calls it quits. In a sense, it reminded me of a horror film where where the killer is unstoppable and ultimately un-killable. (thats probably not a word) The main difference being that he was not killing "for fun", he was just someone who you do not get in their path.

I enjoyed it, was disappointed with the end to an extent, but I can also see the logic in it's selection of Best Picture. The story was what it was, but from a film making standpoint, it had all the right pieces.

 

[Southpaw]

Rented it from Netflix. Watched it. Would like my 2 hours back.

 

[joeshmo]

Rented it from Netflix. Watched it. Would like my 2 hours back.

I second that. Rented at the hotel I am staying at and I think I would have been better off just going to sleep.

 

[Louis]

This movie seems to be a major hit or miss with its audience.

 

[Linderbee]

Rented it from Netflix. Watched it. Would like my 2 hours back.

My bro had the same reaction.

 

[Yuma]

We debated for hours, did the sheriff in the movie end up with the money? I say he did. My family thinks not.

Possibility: If the Sheriff did end up with the loot, wouldn't the bad guy Chigurh eventually figure it out and come for the Sheriff for the money? That could be movie number two!

 

[Yuma]

Oh, I thought a major part of the movie no one talks about, is Chigurh kills people who don't follow their "code." I like how he went to the trailer park manager and she stuck to her code of not revealing anything about the tenants, and he walks away from her instead of trying to torture her or kill her for the info.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Honestly I am 2/3rds the way through watching this movie and it bores the crap out of me. Another grossly overrated critic movie.

 

[Shane]

We debated for hours, did the sheriff in the movie end up with the money? I say he did. My family thinks not.

Possibility: If the Sheriff did end up with the loot, wouldn't the bad guy Chigurh eventually figure it out and come for the Sheriff for the money? That could be movie number two!

The Shriff did not get the money. Also what gave you that impression?

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Oh and the beginning scene where the killer kills the cop is possibly the stupidest, most unrealistic thing I have seen in a long time.

Even podunk jails have cameras now. Tons of forensic evidence. Killing a cop in such a manner would bring state police in. A full description of the man would have been given by the cop when the arrest was made. It was such a dumb and unnecessary start to the movie and completely set it up to be a series of near impossible coincidences just to forward a clunky plot.

 

[Shane]

Oh and the beginning scene where the killer kills the cop is possibly the stupidest, most unrealistic thing I have seen in a long time.

Even podunk jails have cameras now. Tons of forensic evidence. Killing a cop in such a manner would bring state police in. A full description of the man would have been given by the cop when the arrest was made. It was such a dumb and unnecessary start to the movie and completely set it up to be a series of near impossible coincidences just to forward a clunky plot.

Podunk police stations may have all of that now. However this movie was set in the late 70's or early 80's. I highly doubt they would have then.

I can also see that a description wouldnt have been given. There was really no need. As far as the officer was concerned he was in custody. It is not SOP to give out of a description of someone that is in your custody already.

Yes there would have been forensic evidence. But especially back then it would have been a lengthy process to get it all processed.

I dont believe it to be all that far fetched for those reasons.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Now that I have read the thread, apparently the movie is set in 1980, which forgives the no cameras in the jail (I guess) but still leaves a huge plot hole of "cop killer".

It isn't that the movie is hard to get. You just don't care. There is no hero. The villian isn't remotely complex. The plot is childishly easy to follow. There are no suprises to this point. And the villian's continued existence relies solely on the idea that no one really cares about catching him as absolutely no police work is done and there is no media attention despite mass murders and a drug war.

Even in 1980, if someone was walking along the highway, killing guys, and taking their cars, then the word would get out. It's just stupid.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Podunk police stations may have all of that now. However this movie was set in the late 70's or early 80's. I highly doubt they would have then.

I can also see that a description wouldnt have been given. There was really no need. As far as the officer was concerned he was in custody. It is not SOP to give out of a description of someone that is in your custody already.

Yes there would have been forensic evidence. But especially back then it would have been a lengthy process to get it all processed.

I dont believe it to be all that far fetched for those reasons.

Yes it is not far fetched at all that a guy could start mass killing people including cops and there would be no media or police attention outside of an old sherrif who doesn't want to get involved anyway.

You honestly don't believe that do you?

 

[Yuma]

The Shriff did not get the money. Also what gave you that impression?

The way he went into the motel room where it was stored, after telling the next door tenant to call the police. Plus he pointedly asked the other investigating policeman in the diner if any money had been found. Kind of like throwing the suspicion off him and seeing how the officer felt about not finding any money. Add to that, Chigurh said he would kill the woman at the end of the movie if he DIDN'T get the money. Plus, the sheriff retired early, before his scheduled retirement date, which would affect his pension.

 

[Southpaw]

The way he went into the motel room where it was stored, after telling the next door tenant to call the police. Plus he pointedly asked the other investigating policeman in the diner if any money had been found. Kind of like throwing the suspicion off him and seeing how the officer felt about not finding any money. Add to that, Chigurh said he would kill the woman at the end of the movie if he DIDN'T get the money. Plus, the sheriff retired early, before his scheduled retirement date, which would affect his pension.

Aha! Could be.