That being said, No Country For Old Men is one of those "wrong place, wrong time" type situations. While out hunting one day, Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin, who looks more like his father in this movie that you can imagine) stumbles upon quite a mess. Trucks and bodies of men and dogs lay strewn about, riddled with bullet holes. Everyone appears dead, until he opens one truck door and finds a survivor, a Mexican asking for agua. He disarms the man, who has clearly been injured, and leaves to survey the scene, finding a huge stash of heroin in the bed of one of the trucks. He sets out to look for the "winner" of this showdown and finds him some ways off, dead and holding a satchel full of dough - 2 million big ones to be exact. With his newly acquired gun and wealth, he heads home, deflecting his wife's questions of why he is home so late.
Later than evening, his conscience gets the best of him and he brings water back to the man, only to find that his head has been blown open. More Mexicans have returned, they spot his truck and slash his tires. He runs. In the meantime, the main villain in the film, Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) escapes prison custody by brutally killing the deputy who arrested him. Soon, Anton, hired by the man screwed in the drug deal, gets wind that the heroin and money are both missing and the only clue is Llewelyn's truck. Poor Llewelyn.
Grizzled Sheriff Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) sets his sites on Anton as well, since he killed one of his men, but also goes looking for Llewelyn when he recognizes Llewelyn's truck at the crime scene. The rest of the film plays out the cat and mouse game between the three men. Sadly for Llewelyn, the money has a transponder with it, so Anton doesn't have much trouble finding him, but Llewelyn proves to be more trouble than Anton first thought when he fights back. The Mexicans also garner info about Llewelyn's whereabouts through some sneaky tricks they play on his mother-in-law and wife, and soon everyone is bearing down on Llewelyn's "safe" location.
Anton leaves a bloody trail in his wake and uses the most unusual device ever in his escapades. He carries an air tank and uses an air gun to pop out locks and well, brains. It's really effective and leaves no ballistics. Pretty clever. And this hired gun is an odd one for sure. Extremely intense in his demeanor, he has "morals" unlike most hired killers. If he makes a deal with you, then he keeps the deal no matter what. He offers Llewelyn a deal to spare his wife's life if he will give Anton the money, but Llewelyn insists on being a hard-ass. He flees to Mexico after having been shot by Anton in a showdown, tossing the dough over a high fence as he makes his way across the border. He then gets a visit in the Mexican hospital from Carson Wells (Woody Harrelson), who is also seeking the money for his boss. Carson offers protection in exchange for the dough, but it seems that there is no protection from the unstoppable Anton.
The film ends strangely, in one of those moments where nothing is quite resolved, and you yell out, "ok, roll credits" simply because that would be the disconcerting thing to do. That's not to say that this isn't a fantastic movie, because it is. There are so many breathtaking moments and to see them in Blu-ray high-def yumminess is truly a sight. Anton likes to make trouble wherever he goes and Blu-ray makes the most of it.
The acting in No Country For Old Men is spectacular, as is the film in general, evidenced by the numerous Oscar nominations and wins it garnered. Each character has their own quirky ways and you'll find yourself laughing out loud at some of the things they say. They are more awkward funny than anything else, but the lines are great nonetheless. Everyone, down to the lowliest of deputies trailing behind Sheriff Bell, to his wife and even Llewelyn's mother-in-law are priceless. Of course, everyone's favorite will be the oh-so-intense Anton, who you sort of root for, even though he is pure evil.
While it might not be a film to watch over and over, I can certainly see watching it at least twice just to pick up on everything you may have missed. If you haven't seen it yet, definitely check out No Country For Old Men as it is a cinematic masterpiece and well worth your time.
