The movie is dark... real dark! The Coen brothers are remarkable. They also wrote the script which is amazing. The dialogue in this movie will be studied for years to come, it's that good. Speaking of dialogue, Tommy Lee Jones gives a performance that will be remembered as his best since "The Fugitive" in which he won an Oscar for.
All the acting is phenomenal in this movie. I was scared of the scary characters, and I cared for the "good guys". How long has it been since you were literally "on the edge of your seat" in a movie? Well I was during "No Country...". The cat and mouse game is so good, it's uncomfortable to watch sometimes. It's uncomfortable because you never know what's going to happen, and that my friends is the entire concept of the movie. Not theme, but concept. There are many themes in the movie, just read the title. But the primary concept is unpredictability.
Remember "Forrest Gump"? My cousin Mat and I have a perfect example of the concept of a movie: In "Forrest Gump", the concept was coincidence. Everything amazing that happened to Forrest Gump was pure coincidence. If things were just the tiniest bit different, he wouldn't have been a war hero, or met all those presidents or been a world ping-pong champion. In "No Country..." nothing is predictable. The best parts are when you start to get cocky and think you've figured it out... you haven't figured out a damn thing.
There are no cliches throughout this movie that helps you predict the ending, it's all about unpredictability. The ending will be talked about for years... you will see why if you ever watch it.
There are other techniques in the movie that lend themselves to the dark feel. For example, there's no sountrack... let me say this again, there's NO music throughout the entire film. You may not pay attention to the music in the movies you watch, but its the music in certain scenes that create emotion. You hear happy music in a scene when a family is at the park, you feel happy. You hear a symphony playing during a scene where someone dies, you feel sad. There's no music in "No Country..." you will feel nothing. And the absence of emotion is what lends to the darkness of the film. Another technique is the lack of color. Everything is so plain, even ugly at times. Dirty browns, greens, etc. also create a cold mood throughout the movie.
This movie was just nominated for 8 Oscars, and it's not for being an average movie. But you have to watch carefully, or you will walk out of the theater cheated, but it will be your own fault. Pay attention to the dialogue, pay attention to the sites and locations, pay attention to the mood the directors have setup for you. If you do these things, I'm telling you, "No Country for Old Men" will be one of the best movies you ever see. What if you don't like the movie? It's ok, because that means we just Agree To Disagree.
