No Country For Old Men (no spoilers)

Collapse

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • No Country For Old Men (no spoilers)

    Saw this last night at the NYFF. It was followed by a Q&A with the Coen brothers and most of the cast, which unfortunately, wasn’t as enlightening as it might have been, due to the fact that the Coens do not like to talk about their work (like Woody Allen, they prefer to let it speak for itself) and Tommy Lee Jones’ intolerance for dumb questions. Still fun to see them all together.

    What am I supposed to say about this film, anyway? What do you think might happen if you took a source novel by a great American writer, had it adapted by the Coen brothers, who already have a film catalog to kill for and yet have outdone themselves here, and had it shot by one of the best cinematographers in the business? It sucks?

    There is a sequence in the third act of Blood Simple, where M. Emmit Walsh is hunting John Getz through the walls of adjacent apartment rooms that is as suspenseful and nerve-wracking as anything the Coens have ever done.

    No Country For Old Men manages to maintain that same level of tension for nearly two hours. It is only broken periodically, only briefly, by a supporting cast of bit characters who supply the same kind of folksy humor that we saw in Fargo. Not too much, nothing too overtly funny. Just enough to let you exhale.

    There is not a lot of dialogue here, and virtually no exposition. Just set-up and go. This is the kind of film you can watch 4 times and still pick up on something you missed before.

    I’m not going to say anything about the plot. Don’t read to much more about this film before next month. Stay away from reviews, which might unnecessarily spoil minor details. Just go see it.

  • #2
    Re: No Country For Old Men (no spoilers)

    I'll be there. Front and center.
    @TerranceMulloy

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: No Country For Old Men (no spoilers)

      Okay, so the reviews are in for this and it's a masterpiece. The best reviewed film of the year so far (thats not a CGI cartoon).

      For the couple of people here who have seen Before The Devil Knows You're Dead, this movie is more intense and nerve-wracking than that even.

      Only in 28 theaters, but if ones by you you should be out seeing it right now.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: No Country For Old Men (no spoilers)

        I had a similar experience at the WGA screening in LA, Kinter.

        The story is simple, tense as hell, familiar for those who have seen the coens' library or work, but still with enough newness to qualify for my recommendation.

        The Q&A was on the quiet side. Tommy Lee Jones came at the last minute, Bardem & Brolin were as aloof as one might expect. Aw shucks, glad you liked this or that. Yeah, it was fun to make. I'm not as wild about this in its entirety as I've been about some of their other films, but I was glad as hell to get the chance to see them in person.
        - - - - - - -
        Script consulting still going strong.

        Details and updates here, as always: http://messageboard.donedealpro.com/...ead.php?t=9901

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: No Country For Old Men (no spoilers)

          I saw this last night. It's a fantastic movie. I think the ending is going to fire people up as much as the ending of The Sopranos. To anybody going to see it, it's utterly important to pay attention to Tommy Lee Jones' opening voice over. It's the real set up for his character and the theme of the film. Jones' character doesn't show up until about the end of act 1 and there's no exposition as some have said. So you need to remember who he is in those first few minutes, because they don't explain it again.

          I found this to be a film driven by theme and chracter and less about plot. But don't get me wrong, the plot is totally there. It's full of tension, shocks, laughs -- everything you would want from a Coen Bros. film. It's Fargo in the southwest in a lot of ways and a real call back to Blood Simple.

          And yes, it's completely beautiful to look at it. The opening shots are so gorgeous. They distracted me so much that I missed some of those details of Jones' narration. But I urge people to pay attention to that. After seeing the whole movie, I realize that's the real key to understanding the theme of this piece.

          Ele...

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: No Country For Old Men (no spoilers)

            great film. definitive Coen story.
            It was very interesting on how was exposition obsolete. When could a film get away with not having exposition? when the back story of the drug fiasco is not important as is the story of the vengeance of human pricinples.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: No Country For Old Men (no spoilers)

              Caught this a couple of weeks ago at a preview. Has anyone read the McCarthy novel? It's an incredibly faithful adaptation bar a few scenes. That whole scene at the gas station is virtually word for word taken from the original text. Disappointed that the Coens cut out scenes with Moss and the teenage hitchhiker. They have some great dialogue in the book. Great flick but an even better novel.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: No Country For Old Men (no spoilers)

                There are critics giving this movie four stars, but I'm giving it three stars.

                The ending short changed the viewer after they followed this story for two hours. I can't get into the how and why because it's a BIG SPOILER.

                And I don't want to hear from film graduates about how I'm missing the point about its theme or whatever. The ending wasn't satisfying no matter which way the climax went.

                I wish I could go into detail, but it's too early. It would completely ruin the movie for people.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: No Country For Old Men (no spoilers)

                  Originally posted by JoeNYC View Post
                  And I don't want to hear from film graduates about how I'm missing the point about its theme or whatever.


                  My favorite anecdote about film endings is from back when Frank Darabont was screening The Shawshank Redemption. At the time, the film ended (as did the book it was based on) with Red (Morgan Freeman) getting on a bus and heading south.

                  The preview audience didn’t get it. They wanted to see Red and Andy meet up in Mexico.

                  Darabont explained that the theme of the movie was hope, and that if they thought he made it, then he made it.

                  They still didn’t get it.

                  He elaborated that the film was a parable about faith. You don’t actually get to know how it all turns out in the end. You just have to live your life and believe that you’ll make it to the promised land.

                  They still didn’t get it.

                  They wanted a happy ending. And they didn't want to have to think about it.

                  Two weeks later Darabont had a small crew back together for a helicopter shot of Red and Andy meeting up on the beach, and Shawshank had a new ending.

                  The film bombed at the BO, but at least the people who saw it got it.

                  Lesson: Don’t ever try and be subtle with American film audiences.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: No Country For Old Men (no spoilers)

                    My response isn't about whether there shouldn't or should be a hollywood happy ending or not. And my point isn't about not seeing Red hooking up with Andy in the end analogy.

                    I've seen how COUNTRY ends and I thought I was short changed after investing all my time and emotion in the story.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: No Country For Old Men (no spoilers)

                      Liked this a lot. Super intense. Never felt forced.

                      The ending pissed off a lot of folks in the theater though. It will probably keep this from winning Best Picture IMO.

                      *** SPOILER BELOW ***

                      The audience always wants justice and I think even after Brolin died they were expecting Tommy Lee to get Bardem. I think a lot of people felt cheated because the ending didn't give them what they demanded. Personally, I liked it because I thought it was realistic and I thought it was interesting to let the villain win.

                      *******************

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: No Country For Old Men (no spoilers)

                        Originally posted by DaltWisney View Post
                        The ending pissed off a lot of folks in the theater though. It will probably keep this from winning Best Picture IMO.

                        *** SPOILER BELOW ***

                        The audience always wants justice and I think even after Brolin died they were expecting Tommy Lee to get Bardem. I think a lot of people felt cheated because the ending didn't give them what they demanded. Personally, I liked it because I thought it was realistic and I thought it was interesting to let the villain win.

                        *******************

                        Audiences are stupid, aren't they?

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: No Country For Old Men (no spoilers)

                          when it was all said and done, i wasn't impressed. as much as i enjoyed it while it was happening, i couldn't get over the fact i felt like i had wasted my time. sort of why i never watched that show about the people on the island - i think its very easy to create weird interesting characters if you don't have to tie them together in the end... just my opinion.

                          and whats with the love from the critics? did they leave before the end?

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: No Country For Old Men (no spoilers)

                            Since DaltWisney decided to ignore the "no spoilers" in the title of the thread, I gotta give a SPOILER WARNING for my post.

                            WARNING SPOILER




                            DaltWisney says, "The audience always wants justice and I think even after Brolin died they were expecting Tommy Lee to get Barden. I think a lot of people felt cheated..."

                            -- Dalt, you mentioned -- a lot -- of people felt cheated because Barden got away. Did you question a sample of the audience to come to this conclusion?

                            At the climax and its end, I sat there stunned along with the audience that were watching the movie along with me. I can't speak for the people in the audience, but for me, I wasn't stunned or upset about the creative choices, i.e., Brolin died or that Barden got away. It goes deeper than that, which requires me to go into great detail.

                            I can't do that now because I don't have the time and I don't want to do it in a "no spoiler" thread.

                            If I have time over the weekend, I'll lay it all out and in a new thread that states -- SPOILERS.

                            I'll give a hint of the problem that I had: I wasn't too pleased with how they structured the climax/ending.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: No Country For Old Men (no spoilers)

                              Really wish you hadn't placed a spoiler in this thread.

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X