The Coen Brothers' latest film, "No Country for Old Men", is splendidly acted, so let's get that out of the way first. The Coen brothers' gift for perfect casting is fully in evidence here.


Adapted from a novel by Cormac McCarthy, the film is apparently extremely faithful to its source, although I cannot compare the two, since I have never read any of Mr. McCarthy's books (he is also the author of "All The Pretty Horses", which, a few years ago, was made into a not very well-received film).

"No Country for Old Men" begins on the border of the Rio Grande, where all-time loser Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), out hunting for game, accidentally stumbles on the bloody remains of a drug deal gone bad. There are dozens of corpses all over the place, a still alive, but dying, man, and a suitcase full of money. Moss steals the suitcase and returns to give the dying man a last drink of water after abandoning him and then having second thoughts. He is immediately shot at, and pursued, running back to his trailer just long enough to make sure that his wife (Kelly MacDonald) is safely on the way to her mother's, and out of harm's way.

It is then that the cat-and-mouse game begins. Drug dealer, asssassin and all-around psychopath Anton Chigurh (a terrifying Javier Bardem) is hot on the trail of the stolen money, which, of course, he feels belongs rightfully to him. Chigurh is one of the most disturbing monsters I have ever seen in a film; the sort of man who inevitably shoots someone remorselessly minutes after beginning a conversation with them, and always after asking them to call a coin toss.

But Chigurh is not the only person after Moss. Philosophy-spouting sheriff Ed Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) has also stumbled on the sour drug deal, and after correctly deducing that Moss may have stolen the money, starts his own manhunt in an effort to save him and apprehend Chigurh, a man that Bell seems to already know much about. In addition to all of this, a bounty hunter, Carson Wells (played by Woody Harrelson), is sent by a businessman to retrieve the money. Both Wells and Bell are anxious to talk Moss out of stupidly making a run for it with the stolen cash, something that Moss seems determined to do. The tension mounts as hunters and victim repeatedly cross paths and elude each other.

This film has all the ingredients of what could have been a cinematic masterpiece, which is, incidentally, what many critics are already calling it. It has excellent performances, evocative photography, clever lines of dialogue, and incredible suspense throughout. You would think that with all of these ingredients, it couldn't possibly miss. And you might logically expect that the writing-directing team of Joel and Ethan Coen, who brought us "Blood Simple", "Fargo", and "O Brother, Where Art Thou" wouild once again give us a memorable film. But this is their first adaptation of an acclaimed novel, and in apparently following it faithfully, they have bungled an opportunity. During much of the film, we see one gory killing after another, but when the story reaches a crucial turning point, we are not clearly shown what has happened. Nor are we actually told whether or not one of the major characters is actually killed. It is left up to the audience to put the pieces together and make up its own mind. This may not be due to the screenplay, but to he fact that the Coens were unwilling to make changes to the novel to make the film more comprehensible. In another film, where we are being teased all the way through, we might expect not to be shown vital plot elements, but when what seems like a straightforward manhunt story deliberately skips or fudges essential plot points, and leaves the fate of one character up in the air, we feel cheated, although some critics love these "open endings". Open endings work only when they make the story more dramatic or poignant (as in the end of "Porgy and Bess", in which we never know if Porgy is reunited with Bess after he goes to New York to find her.) But when they are inserted merely for the sake of being clever, trendy, and different into a story which practically demands a resolution, it is unforgivable. The theatre at which I saw this film was buzzing with murmuring voices as the film ended, and they did not sound happy.

If you have read the novel "No Country for Old Men", you just might enjoy this film, although "enjoy" is not the term I would use for such a downbeat plot so crammed with violence. All others, be warned, unless you have a strong desire to see Tommy Lee Jones or Javier Bardem (who was so memorable in 2005's "The Sea Inside") in any film that they make. If Bardem, as some predict, gets nominated for an Oscar, it will stand as a rebuke to the Academy, not because he is bad in "No Country for Old Men", but because he was so shamefully robbed in 2005 of an Oscar nomination for "The Sea Inside".