The Coen brothers have done it again.
This is brilliant filmmaking. I know some have complained about the ending but it didn't bother me.
The movie is based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy. Incredible cast...solid acting all around. The look of the movie, just gorgeous. I felt I was standing under the open skies of West Texas circa 1980. It is violent. I had to close my eyes several times. Javier Bardem was so scary, including his Prince Valiant haircut. My boss and I were talking about the writing today. Not a word was wasted.
I think it's interesting the title of this movie and the final season of the Sopranos both referenced Yeats poems. I would watch this movie again. It's a lot deeper than a cat and mouse game.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
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7 comments:
This and Juno are the two movies I'm dying to see right now. Thanks for the review!
The version of this movie that I saw was a pirated DVD that someone had actually filmed in the theatre with a shaky camcorder! The quality was execrable, of course, and I didn't catch a lot of the dialogue, although I did catch the audience's guffaws and chuckles. :( This might have contributed to my jaundiced impressions of the film.
I hated it. I've never been good at handling extremes of violence, and the subtleties you mention were utterly lost on me.
I'm going to watch it again, either in the cinema or on a good disc. This is because you're the second person whose opinion I respect who has given the movie a glowing review. Makes me think I've missed something.
jen - let me know what you think.
wordtryst - okay, as someone who makes a living in the film business I am going to pretend I did not read that you watched a pirated DVD. ha
The dialogue is sharp. To not be able to hear it would make this movie unwatchable.
Given the scale of the movie, it's better to see it on a big screen. The cinematography was stunning.
I also have a real hard time with watching violence. This movie does have some pretty intense moments but I didn't feel like it was gratuitous. It fits the story.
I haven't read the book but those who have told me the movie is a great adaptation.
Just so that the FBI guys don't come knocking: I didn't buy the thing. Someone brought it to my house; she hadn't watched it either but had heard the buzz. We didn't have a clue what it was about, and were both horrified when we realized how it had been copied.
I'll give it another chance when it comes to the theatres here.
wordtryst - Phew, I think you are safe from the FBI now. :)
I wanted to like this film. The funny thing is that I did enjoy it a bit until the last half-hour. All of a sudden, I began to question the point of the violence. I've never enjoyed too much blood & guts, but I actually felt dirty leaving the film. I felt like the directors were showing off. It was a higher budget student film. I sat through film school looking at people make films like this that were pretty to look at and had some 'deeper' meanings, but minus a narrative. There are great moments in the film and is by no means a bad movie, but it was empty to me. I actually wondered if we needed that film, anymore than we need "Flavor of Love". I think "Michael Clayton" was a superior film. There's actually a sense of humanity.
I haven't seen Michael Clayton yet so I can't compare the two. Maybe because I am a "woman of a certain age" in Hollywood that means over 25, so this movie really resonated with me. This is No Country for Old Men or Women. :)
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