University Chronicle

Issue date: 11/29/07 Section: Intermission

Media Credit: Anusuya Shrestha

In the new Coen brothers film "No Country For Old Men," nearly every scene is filled with a heavy sense of dread.

The screenplay is based on the 2005 Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name. McCarthy, known for his dark, poetic tales, spins a noir crime thriller that almost comes off as a horror story.

The Coen brothers somehow translate the novel into a screenplay perfectly, right down to the skin crawling villain of the tale. Spanish born Javier Bardem plays Anton Chigurh, a mildly charming, entirely terrifying character capable of being intensely ruthless, the type of person that will haunt many a viewers' dreams.

The story starts with Llewelyn Moss, played by a mustached Josh Brolin, spotting a wounded pit bull in the desert while he's hunting.

He finds himself drawn to a ridge where he discovers a massacre below, the result of a drug deal gone horribly wrong.

A handful of vehicles, including a truck filled with heroin, a bunch of decomposing bodies, one survivor and $2 million await him when he goes to investigate.

Moss takes the money, setting off a chain of death that follows him to Mexico and back.

On Moss' trail is the sadistic Chigurh. We never really figure out how Chigurh factors into things.

Whether it's his money that Moss takes, or his heroin in the truck, or maybe he's an enforcer for a drug kingpin. Whatever his role in the dealings, it's very clear that he plays death.

Nearly everyone he comes into contact with finds their way into the next life. Armed with a cattlegun and silenced shotgun, he's an unrelenting killing machine with no remorse and little emotion.

Right from the get go, you get the feeling that everyone involved is screwed, that there's very little chance that anyone's getting out of this blood fest alive.

Tommy Lee Jones plays an almost throwaway character as Sheriff Bell.

His only role seems to be that of surveying the damage of everything involved with the missing money.

He has a number of monologues during the movie that seem to work as the film's conscience.

Bardem, however, is treading Oscar territory with the unstoppable killing machine Chigurh.

The film follows a simple moment of greed that evolves into a hellish cat and mouse chase.

The actors all put forth some of the best roles of the year.

Woody Harrelson as some sort of business man who has dealt with Chigurh's violence before. Stephen Root, best known as Milton in "Office Space," is almost unrecognizable as the business man attempting to track the missing money.

Kelly Macdonald, Renton's underage love interest in the heroin dramady "Trainspotting," pulls off the rural Texan wife of Moss. She is a confused, sympathetic and unwilling participant in the grim happenings.

Joel and Ethan Coen, perhaps best known for "Fargo," have crafted their most memorable film yet.

With "The Big Lebowski" "Miller's Crossing" and "The Man Who Wasn't There" to contend with, "No Country For Old Men" trounces them all easily. Despite sounding in summary like a typical crime movie, the Coens elevate it into a thought provoking and haunting experience.

It's the type of film that leaves you thinking about it days later and hunting out people to talk to about it.

"No Country For Old Men" is currently playing at the Parkwood 18 and instilling nightmares in man, woman and child everywhere.

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