Oscars Watch: No Country For Old Men

Above is a full length video of Charlie Rose's 11/16/07 interview of Ethan and Joel Coen, directors of the movie No Country for Old Men and two of their lead actors, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin.

Based on Cormac McCarthy's novel of the same name, the movie's plot was simple: a man stumbles on a pile of cash from a drug deal gone bad, and finds himself pursued by a relentless hitman. From this basic premise, the Coens created a tight drama full of chance encounters and fatal consequences, in a style so unapologetically violent and frugal -- sparse dialogue, practically nonexistent musical score -- you can't help but sit up and pay attention.

The performances were stellar. Javier Bardem's alone was reason enough to see this movie; his quietly menacing portrayal of the psychotic Anton Chigurh would chill your blood. The rest of the cast held their own: Tommy Lee Jones deftly delivered the darkly comic Coen brothers' trademark dialogue and Josh Brolin showed nuance that I didn't think he had.

This movie didn't dethrone Fargo as the best Coen brothers movie in my book, but it's definitely up there with Miller's Crossing and The Big Lebowski. A must see.

Label(s): A&E
Technorati Tags: movie, film, no country for old men, ethan coen, joel coen, javier bardem, tommy lee jones, josh brolin

|