DVD Voice

One of the films on my “to see” list is No Country For Old Men [bluray], by Joel & Ethan Coen, which won the 2007 Oscar for Best Picture. I have to say it was an impressive movie, kind of a cross between a western and a crime thriller. But, honestly, I really would defy anyone to define what type of movie this is in a word or two. I mean at times it seems film noir, sometimes westernish, sometimes semi-horror, or police drama, or crime tale, or revenge, or etc. You see the problem.

And that is part of the way that Coen’s have done most all of their movies. For instance, Fargo and O Brother Where Art Thou? What kind of movies were those? Enjoyable, fun, good, entertaining, but they challenge a mold. This film was the same way.

And it is also hard to tell about this moving without giving it away. Let’s just say that there was a drug deal in the desert and it went bad (you only see the afterwards). Josh Brolin (American Gangster, Hollow Man) stumbles upon it. He ends up with $2 million and walks off with it. The bad guys (mostly Javier Bardem) follow him and the movie chase ensues with Tommy Lee Jones (The Fugitive, Men In Black) following along.

So essentially you have a chase film, some running, some following, tracking, etc, and a little philosophizing. All the while you have the great storytelling and film making done by the Coen Brothers (Joel & Ethan) and wonderful performances by the actors. The realism is great and there are tons of little things to pick up on. It is well worth watching, and I will re-watch this one again sometime in the near future.

This film reminded me a good deal of Blood Simple, the Coen’s first film, and I now want to go back and watch that one again!

Tommy Lee Jones is asking someone about how many cats they own (we’ve seen several in the house) and he’s answered: “Cats? Several. Well, depends what you mean by got. Some are half-wild, and some are just outlaws.”

P.S. - for students of film or art, take a look at this video of one of the storyboards.