Monday, November 26, 2007

Movie Madness: No Country for Old Men

No Country for Old Men had three things going for it: it's gotten some Oscar buzz, Nate wanted to see it, and I could get in free. When these stars align, you know I have to see it. I wasn't disappointed. NCFOM was pretty awesome. It wasn't one of those movies that I left thinking "that movie was awesome (like Capote);" I had to think about it for a little bit. In fact, I'm still thinking about it - in a good way. Because it was that awesome. Let's start with the scenery and cinematography. NCFOM had a Brokeback Mountain feel to it at times - little people and cars in a huge, empty expanse of land. I like that. I also like some of the interesting camera angles chosen for certain shots. The sound is also pretty cool - I think. The big downfall of the theater where I saw this film is that it's right above a super hip cool trendy clothing store, and you can hear the bass of the store's music through the floor and walls of the theater. Nonetheless, I could tell that the soundtrack (and by that I mean the music and the sound effects) is good and perfectly fitting for the film.
But when it comes down to it, a film makes or breaks itself for me in the actors - and these actors made the film. Tommy Lee Jones was great. He was just the right amount of new character with the perfect dose of the TLJ we see in every movie. He plays a small-town Texas sheriff... of course he does. And Josh Brolin and Kelly MacDonald were great, too. When you see this movie, think about the fact that Miss Kelly is from Glasgow, Scotland. Just... think about it.

Ultimately, this movie belongs to Javier Bardem. He is nothing short of sensational. If I were a high-powered movie reviewer, I would say that he is a "revelation." He completely embodied this role, in a way that I bet haunts him at night. I truly feel that if he is not nominated for an Oscar for this, every Academy voter must have been smoking drugs at the same time.

By all means, go see this.

No Country for Old Men - A

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

If I walked into my apartment and Anton was sitting on my couch, I would loose my bowels and have a fatal stroke. In that order- 'cause he was truly a scary MF.

singlegirlsnewyear said...

I completely agree. Javier Bardem was wholly convincing in his role of a psychopath. I was defiantly scared of him. Kelly MacDonald was a phenomenally convincing Texan.

I really enjoyed the dialogue and the dialect that the Cohen brother's faithfully use in all of their films. It is true to the place where the story is set. So many movies get lazy on the language aspects. As I listened I felt that I could hear my Kansan relatives speaking.