No Country for Old Men -- 7/8ths of a great movie

[TigerVols]

Fantastic cast
Fantastic directing
Great cinematography -- captures West Texas to a T
Even better dialogue.

Worst ending I've ever seen in a movie.

 

[Twoback]

It'd have to end with a Bugs Bunny cartoon to be a worse ending than Million Dollar Baby.

 

[Ace]

Tiger,

Not to get into spoilers here, but have you read the book? The book has kind of a "What the hell was that?" ending, too.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Brilliant movie. Fantastic acting. I don't think any of the three main characters was even in a scene together at the same time. Even when the two dudes were shooting at each other you couldn't see one of them.

And the ending is basically the same as the book ending. No, it doesn't wrap it up in a bow and put the whole movie under a tree for you. But there sure ain't nothing wrong with it.

 

[Clever username]

Hey, keep this **** on the Movies thread! Oh wait ...

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

Brilliant movie. Fantastic acting. I don't think any of the three main characters was even in a scene together at the same time. Even when the two dudes were shooting at each other you couldn't see one of them.

And the ending is basically the same as the book ending. No, it doesn't wrap it up in a bow and put the whole movie under a tree for you. But there sure ain't nothing wrong with it.

I agree ... tremendous performances.

Bardem and Jones.... incredible faces/eyes... I could watch Tommy Lee all day.... is Bardem Raul Julia reincarnated?

I did have a problem/question with the physics involved with the last scene we see Bardem in.

 

[ArnoldBabar]

Not having read the book, I admit the ending threw me. Particularly the abrupt end to the Brolin storyline after we had so much invested in it. But a fantastic piece of filmmaking, the Coens at their "Blood Simple" best.

 

[John]

I'm just glad they stayed true to the book and kept that ending, rather than coming up with something different.

I haven't seen the movie yet, but it's near the top of my list of things to do tomorrow.

 

[Songbird]

Tiger,

Not to get into spoilers here, but have you read the book? The book has kind of a "What the hell was that?" ending, too.

Hope to see this tomorrow. As for endings, the way y'all describe it reminds me of 3:10 to Yuma. You kind of think you know where they're going with the ending, but it's completely different and leaves you thinking, "Hmm, interesting."

 

[Angola!]

Saw this movie last night and it was stunning. The land was definitely West Texas, though it looked like it must have been shot down near Marfa or Alpine because there were a few too many hills and vistas involved.
I liked the ending. I like how it didn't tell you what the hell happened.
I really loved the plot, I jumped at least three times.

My only complaint were the ****wads sitting in front of me who waited the entire movie to start giggling and talking out loud - right during the end when Tommy Lee Jones is telling his wife about his dreams the night before. I thought about telling them to shut the **** up, but didn't want to cause a major disturbance during what I could tell was the last scene.

Also, I have some theories on what the ending meant, but not sure if spoilers are allowed on this thread, so I will keep them inside my head for now.

 

[DanOregon]

I wonder if I'm the only one that needed to be reminded from time to time that the movie was set in 1980. Aside from the look of the killer, the towns looked like most rural areas you see, and its not like you don't see a lot of old pickups around. What was Bardem using for ammon for his air powered rifle, were they just bullets?
Anyway, I did find it interesting the way it ended, particularly in light that another well-reviewed movie, Zodiac. A lot of the movie was filmed in Las Vegas, NM (which was also the town featured in Red Dawn).

 

[Angola!]

I wonder if I'm the only one that needed to be reminded from time to time that the movie was set in 1980. Aside from the look of the killer, the towns looked like most rural areas you see, and its not like you don't see a lot of old pickups around. What was Bardem using for ammon for his air powered rifle, were they just bullets?
Anyway, I did find it interesting the way it ended, particularly in light that another well-reviewed movie, Zodiac. A lot of the movie was filmed in Las Vegas, NM (which was also the town featured in Red Dawn).

I didn't figure out until halfway through the movie that it was set in 1980.
Also, as far as I could figure about the gun that Bardem was using was a line Tommy Lee used when talking to Lewellyn's wife earlier in the movie: He was telling the story about the guy that shot the steer and the bullet ricocheted out and hit him in the shoulder.
After that story, Tommy Lee said something to the effect of: Of course, they shoot steers a lot different now. They use an air gun that pushes a cylinder into the head of the steer killing it instantly and then the cylinder is sucked back into the gun.

I assumed that was the kind of gun dude was using, but then again Tommy Lee never said anything else about it.

 

[TigerVols]

A lot of the movie was filmed in Las Vegas, NM (which was also the town featured in Red Dawn).

You sure about that?

I talked to some people who worked on it and they indicated it was shot entirely outside Marfa and the environs.

Not saying you're wrong, I was just under the assumption Roger Deakins filmed it only in Texas.

 

[JoelHammond]

Saw this last night, and I have questions that I think can be asked now that this thread has fallen. I thought the bad guy was PERFECTLY cast. I was frightened of him.

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS



















First, when the bad guy showed up behind WH's character at the hotel, I think the whole theater said, "holy ****!!"

Did the bad guy kill the original five in the field, or no? No, right? Did the guy that was under the three kill the first four and then someone killed him? Who killed the fifth guy, and why didn't they take the money Brolin found?

I was sort of struck by the ending, but I thought it was clear after thinking about it: TLJ said something that Brolin said (Brolin said it about his mother), about his father being there when he gets there. I thought that was pretty clearly an allusion that the bad dude was coming after him and he was resigned to that. Thoughts? Or was that obvious?

Simon mentioned the physics of Bardem (bad guy?) in his last scene, which I think he meant the door in the hotel. Why didn't he shoot TLJ there? And I think Simon meant him hiding when there was clearly no room behind that door, or at least that's how it looked when TLJ slammed open the door.

So many questions, so few answers. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

This is the first movie maybe ever I almost walked out of, not because it wasn't good, but because I wasn't expecting a horror/thriller of that caliber. I don't really like those sorts of flicks, but I made it through it, thankfully. And I have half my man card left after jumping through the roof when the car hit him.

 

[Kato]

Everything about it showed that it was set in or around in 1980, but how do you explain the scene between Bardem and Woody Harrellson when there is mention of an ATM? Were there ATMs in 1980? If there were, fine (I was 8 in 1980 and my dad still won't use an ATM today). If there weren't, was that a flaw in the movie/script?

 

[Kid Bro Sweets]

I, too, noticed the ATM reference. I don't think they existed in 1980.


MILD SPOILER POSSIBILITY BELOW


I thought the ending was great. TLJ's character is such an introspective guy anyway, so a final introspection was ideal. Also, I didn't interpret the ending as a reference to The Bad Guy coming after him. I interpreted it as an extension of the earlier discussion with TLJ's father's former co-worker ... just about how this was the life he was born to live and his father had blazed the trail. Something like that.

 

[heyabbott]

I still can't believe they haven't made Blood Meridian into a movie. I'm most thankful though, it's one of the 5 greatest books I've ever read.

 

[tonysoprano]

One of my very, very favorite movies. I read the book.... I just enjoy the fact that a very politically incorrect, harsh movie is going to receive so many awards

 

[Steak Snabler]

Everything about it showed that it was set in or around in 1980, but how do you explain the scene between Bardem and Woody Harrellson when there is mention of an ATM? Were there ATMs in 1980? If there were, fine (I was 8 in 1980 and my dad still won't use an ATM today). If there weren't, was that a flaw in the movie/script?

I noticed that, too, and thought it might be an "intentional" mistake by the Coens to throw off the audience. But the film was very clearly set in 1980 --- Brolin says he's a Vietnam vet, but he's only in his late 30s or so; the headstone on his wife's mother's grave says 1980 and then there's a reference to 22 years ago being 1958.

As for the ATM reference, I looked it up and apparently, the first Automatic Teller Machine was introduced in Dallas in the late 1960s. So it's possible they were pretty wide spread in Texas before they were everywhere else. But I doubt they were casually referred to as "ATMs" in 1980 ...

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

First time I used an atm was 1979.