April 2009 | blackfilm.com | No Country for Old Men (DVD REVIEW)

While hunting antelope in the desert along the Rio Grande, Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) stumbles upon the fresh carnage of a drug deal gone bad. Although the ground is littered with corpses, the fearless Vietnam vet wanders right into the crime scene and finds a suitcase containing two million dollars.

Seizing the satchel, he rushes home to show the windfall to his wife, Carla Jean (Kelly Macdonald). But Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), a sociopath who has no compunction about eliminating anyone standing between him and the money, becomes aware that Llewelyn is in possession of the loot, and gives chase.

Bothered by the fact that a sadist with a penchant for torture is on a grisly killing spree, close to retiring Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) soon joins the pursuit. He’s determined to crack this one last case before quietly slipping off into the sunset.

However, as the attrition-rate continues to mount, it becomes clear that despite all their experience, the elusive outdoorsman Llewelyn and the seasoned lawman Bell are up against more than they bargained for in the trigger-happy Anton. What ensues is a nerve-wracking cat-and-mouse caper guaranteed to keep you on edge for the duration.

Based on Cormac McCarthy’s best seller of the same name, No Country for Old Men, winner of four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, is a messy, modern-day Western overlaid with elements of a psychological thriller. As adapted by Ethan and Joel Coen, the haunting whodunit unfolds against the visually-expansive backdrop offered by some sumptuous, big sky panoramas.

Oscar-winner Javier Bardem steals the show as the most unnerving screen villain in years, while almost as engaging are Tommy Lee Jones’ performance as an aging gunslinger and Josh Brolin’s as a morally-compromised rogue on the run from a harrowing existential Hell.