NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. Dir Joel Cohen & Ethan Coen. 2007

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Unrelenting, gratuitous violence in the mould of spaghetti Westerns, this film provides superb tension throughout, with touches of dark humour. Largely silent, with close focus on minutiae, it’s an acute visual experience but also a philosophical treatise on the meaning of life, or lack of it, and the role of chance.

Western lovers will enjoy the abandoned and wrecked pick ups in a circle with corpses strewn about, not a rifle deal gone wrong or a wagon train ambushed by pesky red Indians, but a Mexican drug deal. The lone figure who comes upon this scene is not cheroot smoking Eastwood but a capable, resourceful and monosyllabic ex-Vietnam veteran who keeps one step ahead of his pursuer, the psychopathic assassin who wants to recover the cash.

The Coen brothers drive the narrative along, providing the expected markers of stalking movies: laconic, indestructible assassin Chigurh (Javier Bardem) and his fearless and confident prey, Llewellyn (Josh Brolin), working towards the anticipated final shootout. But, life’s unpredictable.

This is possibly Tommy Lee Jones’ finest performance as Sheriff Bell, the ageing cop who’s seen it all. At the end of a long life, things happen, people die. Does he have to deliver the coup de grace before he retires, or will he, like the rest of us, have to be content with unfinished business and puzzles unsolved? Superbly crafted, finely acted with spot on cinematography, but may leave you dissatisfied.

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