No Country for Old Men

By Linda Winsh-Bolard

Adaptation of a novel by Cormac McCarthy.


Llewelyn Moss, a man with few ambitions, is using a telescopic rifle to shoot deer and so happens to find a site of similar murder; a drug deal had gone wrong and even the dog was shot.

In one of the trucks, arranged like wagons from 19th century, he finds a dying man who is asking for water. Moss finds no water, but starts looking for the one missing man, the one who took the money.

Moss finds the last man dead under a tree, takes the satchel with the money, some of the weapons and leaves.

Yet, in the night, he returns bringing the water. He’s too late and too early; the man is dead but the drug dealers had come back to collect the loot and brought with them a killer called Anton. Before they can argue about the missing money, Anton shoots them.

He then pursues Moss. Moss gets out, sends his wife to her Mom, and runs.

In the morning the local sheriff, Ed Tom Bell, finds Moss’s truck, attempts to find Moss and figures out that he missed the killer, Anton, by minutes.

From then on, the trio will follow one another through Texas and Mexico. Bell attempting to stop a psychopathic killer, Moss to keep the money and stay alive, Anton to kill Moss, and as many people who cross his path as possible, while retrieving the money.

In a way it achieves what Assassination of the Jesse James failed to achieve: among the dry, often beautiful but forbidding countryside the tangle of greed, cruelty and betrayal plays to merciless end under the cold sun. The players kill on sight, anyone, and bystanders offering help often end up dead. It links historical wrongs with contemporary ones in a bloody trail stretching through ruined soil.

Anton is as truly inhuman as possible; he kills for fun, understand no temptations, plays games with his victims and mocks their humanity. Bell is as straightforward as possible, as bewildered as possible at this new, reckless society with no compassion,understanding or reason. Tommy Lee Jones is aware of the limitations of his position and becomes truly human when he is lost.

The weak link in Moss, not because the character in not well played, it is, but because his actions make the least sense in the plot.
If one wants to steal money and leave for Mexico, one can do so, without leaving a trace, even today. In the 80’s it was a piece of cake. But Moss doesn’t follow the easy, logical path, nor does he seem to have a plan where to go, or what to do with his booty after he escapes.


The pursuit is meticulously worked out. In some scenes the men are shown slowly realizing that they are connected, with the opponent on the other side of the satchel, or dead bodies. The logistics of hide-chase is worked out through the plot precisely. Circumstances waging against the men or for them, as much as they are able to use them. The problem is not in with the chase but with the premise of the original escape, necessary for the hunt to occur; it's the premise that is wobbly.

Despite the very believable, sleazy, self-assurance of a killer, acted capably by Javier Bardem, complete with the greasy haircut and sleepy heavy facial expressions, and the equally calculated ability to survive using his own wits by Josh Brolin, the best scenes are between Bardem and accidental bystanders. When he initiates the “call it: heads or tails” coin game with the owner of a lone gas station, the growing tension is palpable as both use the game to hide much larger stakes. Equally so in the trailer park’s office where a flush of toilet possibly saves a life.
These scenes are small reminders of who we have become as people, strewn all over the film, in dialog, actions and staging. As in their earlier films, this is the best part of Cohens’ work.

In a year full of wars, this film warns against the most elusive enemies: greed and psychopathic killers hidden in ordinary bodies.


A Miramax (in U.S.), Paramount Vantage (international) presentation and release of a Scott Rudin/Mike Zoss production. Produced by Rudin, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen. Executive producers, Robert Graf, Mark Roybal. Directed, written by Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy. Camera: Roger Deakins


Ed Tom Bell - Tommy Lee Jones
Anton Chigurh - Javier Bardem
Llewelyn Moss - Josh Brolin
Carson Wells - Woody Harrelson
Carla Jean Moss - Kelly Macdonald
Wendell - Garret Dillahunt
Loretta Bell - Tess Harper
Ellis - Barry Corbin
Man who hires Wells - Stephen Root
El Paso Sheriff - Rodger Boyce
Carla Jean's Mother - Beth Grant
Poolside Woman - Ana Reederinals