This Is Really Unlike Any Other Movie I've Seen, Took Me A While To Understand It. But I See How Brilliant It Is. Please Share And Like The Video! AHOO!!!
Unsure if you can ever find the time for, I think you get a lot of Suggestions, my Suggestion is "Taking Care of Business", there's some COOL Actors, some I haven't seen in many other Movies. "Happy Go Lucky Convict"
Youre right that you should rewatch it. It absolutely is one of those movies you have to watch more than once to really get the dialogue. Ive watched it over a dozen times and theres still certain parts that are just lost on me lol but damn if it isnt just an insanely good movie that pulls me in every time i see it
I always took Anton's car accident at the end as the story's way of showing us that, as psychotic & otherworldly as Anton is, he's still just a guy like you and me and he is susceptible to random chance just like everybody is. He's not a monster or an alien; he's a human being, which is far scarier.
Agreed. That's why it's so important that Carla Jean calls his bluff with the coin and says, "The coin don't have no say in it." You actually see this get to him. He gets frustrated with her, and I'm sure he hated that, with Carla Jean, he had to consciously choose to kill her. Chigurh *wants* to be a force of nature, as inscrutable and unpredictable as the chance in the coins he carries. But at the end of the flick, he's an ordinary man who chooses to kill, and some day the coin will turn on him too.
@@JamesWVanFleet I completely agree with your analysis and commentary, and what was said before as well. Chigurh is a paradox, as much as he wants to be an Agent of Chaos and Chance, he knows himself that he is just a man, and goes on further deconstruction of himself by equating himself to a simple coin. He gets frustrated with Carla Jean calling him out because he disregards his own humanity and volition in his desire to transcend it in the meaningless of fortuity, giving in to it completely. Chigurh thinks it is obvious and that she should know all that, and then we do see chance and bad luck almost take him out, an irrepressible force of psychopathy, of all people, at the end.
It is also karma in a way, especially because after that he has to depend on the generosity of others while he's been dominant in every single conversation he's been in up until that poinr
Tommy Lee Jones character is actually the narrator when you think about it. Lewllyn isn't really the main character. This and the book are really about an old sheriff reflecting on his life now that he's at the end, reflecting on the senseless and random violence and depravity that pervades the historically lawless border area, where people live at the edge of societies laws, and our worst and most violent selves come out
@mellverse Exactly. As a young man you feel like you can make a difference and you're equipped to fight the evil. As you get older the world seems colder and more evil but the truth is that the world has always been this cold and this evil and we've always been fighting it since the dawn of man. But that fight is for the young men, this world is not a place for old men. Tommy Lee Jones' monologue in the end is the point of the whole movie and it's wonderfully done.
I love the irony of the scene where they are whinging about people with green hair and bones in their nose, meanwhile all the senseless violence and depravity are instigated by normal everyday looking people.
@@lampad4549 I don't think it's just how senseless violence is. I think the lesson is deeper than that. I think it portreys how random death is. One day you're driving your chickens and pull over to help a guy with engine trouble and the next minute you're dead. You're running a small business and a killer comes in and by chance you're not dead. Then there's the lesson that you can run from death for a bit, but it always catches up with you. I think Anton Chigurh is the personification of death. He kills anyone who gets in his way, and he decides by the flip of a coin whether someone lives or dies. SImilar to the trope of playing chess with death. If you don't play you will surely die, but if you play you have a chance.
I find it amazing how in three consecutive years, we got Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh for No Country for Old Men in 2007, Heath Ledger as Joker for The Dark Knight in 2008, and Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa for Inglourious Basterds in 2009. All three of them won best supporting actor, which was absolutely well deserved.
Also, don’t ignore the last line of the movie. Tommy Lee Jones gives a hopeful story of a dream about his father. Then he delivers a line that shocks us back into reality. “Then I woke up.” Truly brilliant movie.
The story isn't hopeful. It is about death. His father is dead , death is where he has "gone before him" to prepare a place to be waiting on him , as he said. Now that Ed Tom has retired , death is all that is left for him. Work is how men define themselves. It gives a shape to their days. Just look at him. He is at loose ends , with no direction. It is why the sound of the ticking clock continues after the fade to black. He is just counting out the minutes until death , now that he has retired. Being a lawman was who he IS. Now there is nothing left .
Something interesting is that the last dream Ed Tom talks about resembles the plot of McCarthy’s next book The Road, and the mention of his father carrying a horn with fire reminds of the phrase from The Road “are you carrying the fire?”
Ed Tom Bell has realized that it is in deed " No country for Old Men" and his style of not having a gun Andy Griffin policing is behind him. He says I don't want to face something I just don't understand and that's what he's going up against.
@@GastonBoykins I remember that but it's not like Woody would know in the first place and that leads to a silly rabbit hole connecting his dad to the JFK assassination which is likely what he was hinting. He also thinks his dad was innocent of killing that judge when he's completely guilty so take his words with a few grains of salt.
The weapon he is using in the beginning is called a 'cattle killer'. It uses the pressurized container to expel a bolt into the cows head much like we see in the movie with the unfortunate gentleman we seen him pull over.
Llewelyn's death is one of the all-time great left hooks in film. You realize you've been watching a movie for about 45 minutes and you were wrong about who the protagonist was the entire time.
Plus it follows a lot of movie tropes about the protagonist and the antagonist on a collision course, building to that final confrontation, then suddenly the movie's like, nah, it'll be fine.
The novel this is based on (same title) by Cormac McCarthy is fantastic. One of the few cases of the film being just as good - if not better - than the book, IMO.
And everyone who worked on this movie is to thank for it, from the ones in front of the camera, to all the people behind it, an actual masterpiece of a book translation that i wish could happen more often with movies based on novels. Great example for anyone wanting to be in any part of the movie industry
The beauty of this movie, along with it's wonderful acting and stunning cinematography, is that the end of each characters arc is based on the randomness of life itself. Life ain't like the old days and it ain't like a movie.
I'd say "the old days" are still much like today. We still have sickness, death, seeming random misfortunes, psychotic killers, etc. They had those hundreds of years ago too, they just used different strategies and tools.
Such a great damn movie! Life is random, the good guys don't always win, the bad guys sometimes get away with it, and sometimes things just aren't satisfying. This movie is life. Amazing! The acting in this is so good, there aren't enough awards in the world to give away!
Absolutely love this movie. My all time favourite, followed by There Will Be Blood, which is another film everyone should check out if they love amazing performances. Daniel Day Lewis absolutely kills it in that.
This is one of those film adaptations that stays almost perfectly true to the source material. The Cohen bros nailed it perfectly, pretty much. This is one of my favorite films ever
Another great one by you Mell. I love seeing how you give props to the team and acknowledge the work behind the scenes even more than the acting. I think you should do "There will Be Blood"
Ending actually pissed me off at the time, but I've thought about it so much since seeing it years ago, now I think it's pure genius, sad, tragic genius
Oh man. Raising Arizona or Miller's Crossing would be great. I think if he watches Barton Fink next he might never watch another Coen Bros. film, even though I love it.
Looks like mellow got some haters disliking his stuff before they even see it. Keep up that energy mellow, you arent a success until you wake up with at least 10 new haters every day😂😂
@@ShaDHP23 im pretty sure it was a katt williams joke from the pimp chronicles "if you aint wakin up with at least 10 new haters every day then i dont know what the fuck youre doin with your life"😂😂😂
I can't imagine why. I only found this channel a week ago and I'm currently trying to convince myself not to have a full on crush. Just insanely likeable and fun reactions. Exactly what you want when you show someone your fav movie for the first time. Haven't been disappointed yet.
"I ain't gonna call it. The coin don't have no say." Lots of folks are mixed on the ending, but while I personally think it's meant to be pretty obvious that he kills her after she refuses to call the coinflip, I still think she "wins" to an extent. For the purposes of the movie, Chigurh is "invulnerable"-not literally, he's just too smart & too cold to be beaten like villains in traditional movies. You made the great observation that Carson loses his composure and tries to make a deal with Chigurh after telling Llewelyn that Chigurh doesn't make deals. Carla, by contrast, looks death in the face and tells him to get fucked. She calls him out on using the coin to blame "fate" and avoid taking responsibility for the blood on his hands. She's the only one who calls him out on his unfair "game" and even in death she wins it by not playing in the first place. (Also, the name "Carla" is obviously the feminine form of Carl/Charles which means "free man." In fiction, especially literary fiction, the names of important characters are rarely arbitrary. Very interesting that her name means "free woman".) It's very subtle, and a lot of people take much different interpretations, but when he's leaving her house, you can make the case that it's the only time in the movie we see Chigurh rattled. Throughout the movie, he's hyper-aware of his surroundings, certainly not the type who would drive into the path of an oncoming car absent-mindedly. Yet he does, because for once his mind is elsewhere (presumably Carla's words). He's reduced to the point of having to rely on the charity of a child. Chigurh still gets away, and he probably eventually forgets about Carla and goes back to his killing. But that's not the point: Carla goes out on her terms. She has no one left in her life, so she's able to spit on Chigurh's offer of a 50/50 shot at survival. She'd rather take her chances forcing him to face his own free will, and even if he kills her he'll know it was his choice to murder an innocent woman, not fate's choice. Folks will have an infinite # of takes on this movie and its ending though. I think in the context of Cormac McCarthy's work (he wrote the book), it's a "happy" ending obviously with a big asterisk on "happy." But that's how McCarthy's happy endings work (The Road, without spoiling it). *edit:* So many years later and I'm still trying to work out the subtext of the last scene with TLJ. For me the ending is the scene with Carla and the two kids, the TLJ scene is just the "denoument". Curious choice on the Coens' part to end on that scene. I've heard a few good theories but none that are really great.
Carla’s death scene in the film is one of the rare departures from the book. In the book, they have a chilling dialogue where Chigurh basically convinces her that what he is doing is right according to his code and she has no choice but to call the coin. She does. I think it’s interesting that the Cohen brothers made a different statement by leaving this piece of dialog out and not showing her fate.
The good thing about that scene with Carla and Chigurh is that you could interpret it either in a psychological or philosophical sense. And no matter what your interpretation of it, Carla 'wins'. - One interpretation of the movie overall is that Anton is some sort of actual 'avenging angel' who isn't necessarily "good" in any sense of the word but is allowed to get away with his crimes because he's protected by a higher power of some sort; as long as he plays by the 'rules' (these rules being that he has to give unnecessary victims a chance to survive with the coin toss). When Carla refused to call it, she forced him to break his divine rules by killing her anyway (mainly due to his own pride), even though he was perfectly aware that it wasn't necessary to do so. When he does, his protection is revoked and he's left vulnerable for the crash afterwards (the implication being that he won't last much longer without his higher power watching over him). - Another interpretation is that Anton was simply able to get away with his crimes for so long because he was a pure predator who was completely unfettered by any delusions of morality. By making it seem like his unnecessary murders were due to fate and chance rather than any culpability on his part, he was able to divorce himself of any guilt for them. When Carla refuses to call it, she shatters his self-conception of being an intimidating killer _and_ drives home the point that he is the one responsible for the horrible things he does. This is enough to break his concentration and it leads to the car crash. At best, it's likely that it put Anton off his game long enough to cause him serious problems for the future. At worst, it's possible that it will lead to a downward spiral which will cause his eventual death or imprisonment.
And if Carla had agreed to the coin toss, the time it would have taken to carry it out would have changed the time when Anton passed through that intersection (No matter which way it had turned out). She changed HIS fate by refusing to play along and literally set him on a collision course with disaster. I love it!
Fate. The moment Josh Brolin took that money, he sealed his wife, himself and and all the other people fate. Tommy Lee Jones, the old sherif. Is watching the world change and becoming irrelevant. Fun fact. Josh Brolin and Bardem don’t share a single frame of any shot in any scene.
@@Bob1014ify the tracking device was in the money in the briefcase. Even if he hadn’t gone back to the Mexican. Chigah would eventually tracked him down. The tag line of the film is There are no clean getaways. Once he took that money, he walked through a door of violence and death that he couldn’t just walk away from. That’s what this movie is all about. He can’t walk into that kind of world and and walk out unscaved.
@@WolfHreda you don’t see Javier you just see a flash. Also when brolin shoots at him from behind the car you just see the shotgun in the Frame and not Brolin. In fact all three characters are never in the same frame ever.
I wonder how Javier acted Behind the scenes then. Probably very wholesome. Because man is his character very unsettling. Idk if I could be friends with someone who plays a psycho to such a great degree. Thats why I'm curious as to how he was in behind the scenes. Doing a complete 180 and being a likable guy. Hard to imagine
Bardem's voice for Anton is so...I don't know how to describe it. It's compelling, but it hits this particular timbre that makes it sound inhuman. Like the Devil took human form but can't completely pass for one.
Easily my favorite movie of the last 20 years. Add to that, I never noticed the lack of a soundtrack until the mariachi scene, when I realized it was the first real music of the movie. That's how much it had me enthralled by the dialog, acting, and directing.
When I teach film review for Intro to Composition, I use the gas station scene as an activity. I tell the kids we're going to watch a scene and I want them to tell me if they liked it or not, and I want them to specifically focus on the acting. It forces them to think beyond just their gut reactions and forces them to EXPLAIN why something was enjoyable to them. Also, it's an AMAZING scene.
I’ve seen other comments from people going to school for film making say that they were showed that scene as an example of building tension through the acting, camera work, dialogue, sound, etc. I’m not in film school or anything but it’s interesting to hear how the same scene can be used as an example and teaching tool for so many different things. It’s a masterful scene because it does so much with so little. It makes you nervous and it’s unsettling even though there doesn’t appear to be much going on. It’s all those little, subtle details that make us uncomfortable and it’s brilliant.
Loving these reviews Mello! Thank you for your amazing personality and commentary. Finn fact: the actress, Kelly Macdonald, who plays josh brolin’s wife is actually the voice actress of Merida From Brave. Crazy to think her southern Texan accent is believable and she’s Scottish !
So this is my favorite part because of the detail in sound design. When he's in the hotel room and just finds the tracker the tension is already high. It's soooo quiet. There is a moment in the silence and the camera is on Josh Brolin there is the faintest whisper of a silencer in the distance and he looks up. For me that built the tension so much more because he knew it was up at that moment and that he was starting to formulate a plan when he called the front desk. It established all the silence between the front desk and his room and as to why Anton takes his boots off
Cormac McCarthy, who wrote the novel, is probably the greatest living American author. His prose is as thick as poetry and you can't help but be dragged along helplessly by it. I highly recommend that you read one of his books. It's a hell of an experience. McCarthy also wrote "The Road" which was also made into an amazing movie. It's very dark, very very very dark, much more dark than No Country, but it's also a beautiful moving story about a father who will do anything to save his son.
Many people (Including me) have complained how the final showdown was off camera. The reason they did it off screen is because that's how the book went. In a book, I can see how it would be a surprising twist to reveal the death, but in a movie, we'd rather see the shootout play out.
There is a lot of interpretation in this movie and when you learn the nuances of the characters and how it all ties together. it's a stroke of genius, a movie that just keeps giving.
Cool review man. Yeah, this is a movie you'll probably have to watch a few times, some of the stuff is just so subtle. You get a thousand "you must watch" requests every video you post(I suggested No Country For Old Men in the comments of your videos once, maybe you read it lol) I'm sure. But seeing how much you loved Heat, dude, do YOURSELF a favour and watch Collateral. Again,like Heat, directed by Michael Mann, starring Tom Cruise and Jaime Foxx. In one word...Tense. Keep up the great work man, you're my favorite movie critic on RUclips!
@@mikemath9508 oh man, I loved it. Especially the nightclub scene. Please, what was it you didn't like? I'm always open for some constructive criticism. And thanks for your comment man, I think we are both here cause this channel is awesome. Always happy and ready to dive deep into great movies🙂
@@mikemath9508 thanks for the reply mate. But... But... That one line.."is that my briefcase homie?" Man, that is Up There. Its all subjective I guess.
Obligatory comment about the fact that the character of Anton Chigur has been selected by many psychologists and Psychiatrists to be the most genuine representation of a true/real life Psychopath portrayed in the history of film.
Tommy Lee Jones' portrayal of Ed Tom Bell is probably my second favorite performance of his ever, next to that of Captain Woodrow F. Call in Lonesome Dove.
This is one of the films I watched in the theater and walked out afterwards with NO IDEA what I just watched. I've since seen it 15+ times (maybe once a year) and find something new every single time. One of the few masterpieces made this century, in my opinion.
You talked through my favorite line. "This is just a mess ain't it sheriff?" "If it ain't, it'll do 'til the mess gets here." I love watching reaction videos to my favorite movies, but it sucks when they're reacting to something trivial, and miss the real artful stuff.
this movie is amazing. the whole time your waiting for the good guy (tommy lee jones) to step in and save the situation. but he's old and tired of this awful world. the movie is about the absence of God.
@@mr_k4tz very true i feel like sometimes if i try to go down a filmmaker’s filmography sometimes i bias myself toward one way which i definitely did with their more comedic stuff early on with intolerable cruelty big lebowski and burn after reading but i see what you mean now for sure
When you said, you didnt expect carson wells to die like that. That was the point. Same as Llewlyn just dying, or the car crash. It isn't cinematic. People just die. Things just are. Good guys don't always win, bad guys don't always lose. That's the genius of this movie. So unexpected, yet so just what happens everyday. Which is why is ends like it does......
I first saw this movie when I was 19 and it had just come out. I didn't get the ending. I'm in my mid 30s now, my parents are in their 70s. It makes you think about the comfort they're able to give you by just existing and dealing with mortality. When they're gone, you don't see them again until you're dead (if you believe in an afterlife). The sheriff was the real protagonist of the movie, and it's about his struggles grappling with a changing world he can no longer keep up with. He's in the twilight of his life, and seeing his father in his dream was him realizing he would die soon(ish). That's my interpretation of the end, anyway
15:13 Anton has a suppressed Remington 11-87 semi-automatic 12 gauge shotgun, and Llewelyn has a sawed-off Winchester 1897 Field pump/slam-fire 12 gauge shotgun
In many of Cormac McCarthys books (the author of No Country) there are running themes that dwell on fate. The actions of a character seal their fate, and nothing can be done to change the consequences once the decision is made. In this case, when Llewelyn Moss took the money from the cartel, his fate and the fate of his family was sealed in death. The sheriffs dream at the end can be interpreted as his father in the afterlife. He sees his time is coming to an end. His father is calling him and has created a fire for him. He had become too old for this world and sees himself being welcomed into the next.
Best supporting actor winners: 2007-Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men 2008-Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight 2009-Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds Three of the greatest cinematic villains, back to back to back.
For the longest I praised this movie as being the best movie with the worst ending, and I stand by what I said all those years ago, but now that I'm getting older, I'm starting to understand the movie more and more, and I think the ending is perfect. You're not watching a story about a man trying to save himself from a psychopathic killer, you're watching a story about an old man trying to understand the chaos in the world, and realizing he's not really built for it anymore. This movie deserves a good rewatch every 5-10 years, because you'll pull more and more from it every time, and you'll understand it s bit better the more life you got under your belt.
Two movies you need to see. There Will Be Blood which came out the same year as No Country. Also Hell or High Water also based on a Cormac McCarthy novel.
Movies are usually written with a clear beginning, climax, and ending. Life is not. Life is chaos and chance. The brilliance and realism is not writing a movie like a movie, rather like the true nature of reality, which seldom has any sort of gratifying ending, no recognizable arch, and chance and chaos have more bearing than justice or karma. At the heart of this movie is a Western, people say the wild west is in the past, however things are far wilder now then they ever were in the 1800's in the right time moment and place.
First time I saw this I had to rewind it 3 times because I thought my movie was skipping when they killed old boy off screen. Was so shocked. And then following up with the crash at the end.
This Is Really Unlike Any Other Movie I've Seen, Took Me A While To Understand It. But I See How Brilliant It Is.
Please Share And Like The Video! AHOO!!!
Keep going down that rabbit hole. There's still plenty of movies left to go
Unsure if you can ever find the time for, I think you get a lot of Suggestions, my Suggestion is "Taking Care of Business", there's some COOL Actors, some I haven't seen in many other Movies. "Happy Go Lucky Convict"
Youre right that you should rewatch it. It absolutely is one of those movies you have to watch more than once to really get the dialogue. Ive watched it over a dozen times and theres still certain parts that are just lost on me lol but damn if it isnt just an insanely good movie that pulls me in every time i see it
You should definitely put the movie Sicario in your watchlist.
Don't let anyone ask you Heads or Tails MellVerse!
I always took Anton's car accident at the end as the story's way of showing us that, as psychotic & otherworldly as Anton is, he's still just a guy like you and me and he is susceptible to random chance just like everybody is. He's not a monster or an alien; he's a human being, which is far scarier.
Agreed. That's why it's so important that Carla Jean calls his bluff with the coin and says, "The coin don't have no say in it." You actually see this get to him. He gets frustrated with her, and I'm sure he hated that, with Carla Jean, he had to consciously choose to kill her. Chigurh *wants* to be a force of nature, as inscrutable and unpredictable as the chance in the coins he carries. But at the end of the flick, he's an ordinary man who chooses to kill, and some day the coin will turn on him too.
You both nailed it!
@@JamesWVanFleet I completely agree with your analysis and commentary, and what was said before as well. Chigurh is a paradox, as much as he wants to be an Agent of Chaos and Chance, he knows himself that he is just a man, and goes on further deconstruction of himself by equating himself to a simple coin. He gets frustrated with Carla Jean calling him out because he disregards his own humanity and volition in his desire to transcend it in the meaningless of fortuity, giving in to it completely. Chigurh thinks it is obvious and that she should know all that, and then we do see chance and bad luck almost take him out, an irrepressible force of psychopathy, of all people, at the end.
I think that in the book his car gets run into by people on drugs.
It is also karma in a way, especially because after that he has to depend on the generosity of others while he's been dominant in every single conversation he's been in up until that poinr
Tommy Lee Jones character is actually the narrator when you think about it. Lewllyn isn't really the main character. This and the book are really about an old sheriff reflecting on his life now that he's at the end, reflecting on the senseless and random violence and depravity that pervades the historically lawless border area, where people live at the edge of societies laws, and our worst and most violent selves come out
@mellverse Exactly. As a young man you feel like you can make a difference and you're equipped to fight the evil. As you get older the world seems colder and more evil but the truth is that the world has always been this cold and this evil and we've always been fighting it since the dawn of man. But that fight is for the young men, this world is not a place for old men.
Tommy Lee Jones' monologue in the end is the point of the whole movie and it's wonderfully done.
I love the irony of the scene where they are whinging about people with green hair and bones in their nose, meanwhile all the senseless violence and depravity are instigated by normal everyday looking people.
What he said.
@mellverse have you seen Tommy Lee Jones in the fugitive or US Marshalls?
Nope
In storytelling, we expect a resolution. Maybe even a lesson. Movies and stories like this leave us uncomfortable because there is no real resolution.
But that's life.
I mean there is a lesson, its how senseless violence is and how it can incomprehensible. Kinda like Fargo.
@@lampad4549 I don't think it's just how senseless violence is. I think the lesson is deeper than that. I think it portreys how random death is. One day you're driving your chickens and pull over to help a guy with engine trouble and the next minute you're dead. You're running a small business and a killer comes in and by chance you're not dead.
Then there's the lesson that you can run from death for a bit, but it always catches up with you. I think Anton Chigurh is the personification of death. He kills anyone who gets in his way, and he decides by the flip of a coin whether someone lives or dies. SImilar to the trope of playing chess with death. If you don't play you will surely die, but if you play you have a chance.
The only guaranteed resolution...is life's end.....and even then.......?
@@averitas exactly
I find it amazing how in three consecutive years, we got Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh for No Country for Old Men in 2007, Heath Ledger as Joker for The Dark Knight in 2008, and Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa for Inglourious Basterds in 2009. All three of them won best supporting actor, which was absolutely well deserved.
All terrific villains in great films.
Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds and in Django Unchained was amazing. One helluva an actor.
I never thought of that. 1 iconic performance a year
And Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview in "There Will Be Blood" (2007)
Christoph Waltz is not dead though
Also, don’t ignore the last line of the movie. Tommy Lee Jones gives a hopeful story of a dream about his father. Then he delivers a line that shocks us back into reality. “Then I woke up.” Truly brilliant movie.
The story isn't hopeful. It is about death. His father is dead , death is where he has "gone before him" to prepare a place to be waiting on him , as he said. Now that Ed Tom has retired , death is all that is left for him. Work is how men define themselves. It gives a shape to their days. Just look at him. He is at loose ends , with no direction.
It is why the sound of the ticking clock continues after the fade to black. He is just counting out the minutes until death , now that he has retired. Being a lawman was who he IS. Now there is nothing left .
Something interesting is that the last dream Ed Tom talks about resembles the plot of McCarthy’s next book The Road, and the mention of his father carrying a horn with fire reminds of the phrase from The Road “are you carrying the fire?”
Ed Tom Bell has realized that it is in deed " No country for Old Men" and his style of not having a gun Andy Griffin policing is behind him. He says I don't want to face something I just don't understand and that's what he's going up against.
Woody Harrelson is channelling his father in this role. His father was a hitman for the mafia in Texas. Dead serious, look it up.
Also, for the CIA
@@joey_dangerously He wasn't a shooter for the CIA lol. Don't be silly. His dad did assassinate a judge and was otherwise a career criminal.
@@citypopFM interesting fact: Sheriff Bell references that assassination in the novel.
I'm just here to talk about Rampart.
@@GastonBoykins I remember that but it's not like Woody would know in the first place and that leads to a silly rabbit hole connecting his dad to the JFK assassination which is likely what he was hinting. He also thinks his dad was innocent of killing that judge when he's completely guilty so take his words with a few grains of salt.
This movie has one of the best villains in cinematic history, bar none. Love Anton Chigur.
You cant say it has one of the best villains , then follow that with bar none.
The three year run of Anton Chigurh, The Joker, and Hans Landa was just magic.
Only bettered by Lorne Malvo in my opinion, also Cohen brothers though!
That's a bold statement Ringo
@@danp6536 Bro Hannibal Lecter and Darth Vader are light years better.
The weapon he is using in the beginning is called a 'cattle killer'. It uses the pressurized container to expel a bolt into the cows head much like we see in the movie with the unfortunate gentleman we seen him pull over.
The technical term is "captive bolt gun".
It's such a great little detail, because it shows that he views people as nothing more than cattle for the slaughter.
It's used on all types of live stock just tweak the pressure settings for smaller stock like pig sheep goat and what not
@@kingjellybean9795 your name is disturbing
The sheriff also later references it when talking to Carla and realizes that this is what Anton used to kill which is why there was no bullet found
Javier Bardem's role in this movie is perfection. ranks right up there with Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal Lector for me.
Yep. They both won Oscars.
Javier Barden actor español from Madrid
@@mcruzalonso4160 Madrid is in Spain right?
Mads Mikkelsen
Llewelyn's death is one of the all-time great left hooks in film. You realize you've been watching a movie for about 45 minutes and you were wrong about who the protagonist was the entire time.
Plus it follows a lot of movie tropes about the protagonist and the antagonist on a collision course, building to that final confrontation, then suddenly the movie's like, nah, it'll be fine.
But he was the protagonist
So who is the protagonist this time, Sheriff Tom Bell or Llewelyn
@@johnr797 this story is about the sheriff coming to understand that the world isnt changing but hes just getting old. It's no country for old men
@@mattguz55 thanks, Ethan Coen, but Llewellyn was the protagonist for half the film
The novel this is based on (same title) by Cormac McCarthy is fantastic. One of the few cases of the film being just as good - if not better - than the book, IMO.
I tell EVERYONE the same thing!!🤘✌🖤
And everyone who worked on this movie is to thank for it, from the ones in front of the camera, to all the people behind it, an actual masterpiece of a book translation that i wish could happen more often with movies based on novels. Great example for anyone wanting to be in any part of the movie industry
McCarthy first wrote it as a screenplay, which might be why it's his only book that turned into a successful film.
@@Wombatzu I was about to disagree, but you said *successful* , which The Road really wasn't. Even though it's a great film in its own right.
Reading the book is like I’m reading through the movie script. Word by word. Moment to moment. Talk about faithful adaptations.
this movie is just too fucking good, masterclass.
This movie ain’t no joke, man
The beauty of this movie, along with it's wonderful acting and stunning cinematography, is that the end of each characters arc is based on the randomness of life itself. Life ain't like the old days and it ain't like a movie.
I'd say "the old days" are still much like today. We still have sickness, death, seeming random misfortunes, psychotic killers, etc. They had those hundreds of years ago too, they just used different strategies and tools.
@@thesanfranciscoseahorse473 yup and 150 years ago and older things were the same as far as psychos everyone just didn't hear or see them like now
That old man in the coin toss scene did an amazing job.
Exactly. Bardem was amazing , but that guy doesn't get mentioned enough. He gives it back perfectly.
Such a great damn movie! Life is random, the good guys don't always win, the bad guys sometimes get away with it, and sometimes things just aren't satisfying. This movie is life. Amazing! The acting in this is so good, there aren't enough awards in the world to give away!
Yeah I laughed when he went "this movie is just a bunch of random stuff" just like life!
the coin toss scene, if you look up the script for that you can see that every det1ail was written out, even the slow crinkling of the wrapper
Still waiting patiently for There Will Be Blood Reaction!
I think confusion is the natural response when so much is random and everything is consequential.
Absolutely love this movie. My all time favourite, followed by There Will Be Blood, which is another film everyone should check out if they love amazing performances. Daniel Day Lewis absolutely kills it in that.
There Will Be Blood is a must watch
Plus Gangs Of New York, My Left Foot, Last of the Mohicans
@@Nb123022 Unbearable Lightness of Being
The meaning is deep and it all works together. The fact that it's hard to grasp first watch is a testament to it's greatness.
This is one of those film adaptations that stays almost perfectly true to the source material. The Cohen bros nailed it perfectly, pretty much. This is one of my favorite films ever
Another great one by you Mell. I love seeing how you give props to the team and acknowledge the work behind the scenes even more than the acting. I think you should do "There will Be Blood"
That is a phenomenal movie, I second that.
Ending actually pissed me off at the time, but I've thought about it so much since seeing it years ago, now I think it's pure genius, sad, tragic genius
Reminds me of Sopranos a bit
Great movie! For the next Coen Brothers movie, "Raising Arizona", "Miller's Crossing" or "Barton Fink" should be next.
Raising Arizona is fantastic.
Oh man. Raising Arizona or Miller's Crossing would be great. I think if he watches Barton Fink next he might never watch another Coen Bros. film, even though I love it.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
I'LL SHOW YOU THE LIFE OF THE MIND
I strongly recommend Fargo or Barton Fink. The latter will really mess with your head.
A serious Man Fargo Inside Llewynn Davis
Looks like mellow got some haters disliking his stuff before they even see it. Keep up that energy mellow, you arent a success until you wake up with at least 10 new haters every day😂😂
Mr. Video mentioned something about that once. Said that most his haters say he's "not a brother" because he watches "white movies".
@@ShaDHP23 now that is some of the most ignorant logic ive heard in a long time😂😂😂
@@ShaDHP23 im pretty sure it was a katt williams joke from the pimp chronicles "if you aint wakin up with at least 10 new haters every day then i dont know what the fuck youre doin with your life"😂😂😂
@@gooeyking it most certainly is. The Fresh Prince already explained why that ignorant thinking was bogus all the way back in the 90's
I can't imagine why. I only found this channel a week ago and I'm currently trying to convince myself not to have a full on crush. Just insanely likeable and fun reactions. Exactly what you want when you show someone your fav movie for the first time. Haven't been disappointed yet.
"I ain't gonna call it. The coin don't have no say." Lots of folks are mixed on the ending, but while I personally think it's meant to be pretty obvious that he kills her after she refuses to call the coinflip, I still think she "wins" to an extent. For the purposes of the movie, Chigurh is "invulnerable"-not literally, he's just too smart & too cold to be beaten like villains in traditional movies. You made the great observation that Carson loses his composure and tries to make a deal with Chigurh after telling Llewelyn that Chigurh doesn't make deals. Carla, by contrast, looks death in the face and tells him to get fucked. She calls him out on using the coin to blame "fate" and avoid taking responsibility for the blood on his hands. She's the only one who calls him out on his unfair "game" and even in death she wins it by not playing in the first place.
(Also, the name "Carla" is obviously the feminine form of Carl/Charles which means "free man." In fiction, especially literary fiction, the names of important characters are rarely arbitrary. Very interesting that her name means "free woman".)
It's very subtle, and a lot of people take much different interpretations, but when he's leaving her house, you can make the case that it's the only time in the movie we see Chigurh rattled. Throughout the movie, he's hyper-aware of his surroundings, certainly not the type who would drive into the path of an oncoming car absent-mindedly. Yet he does, because for once his mind is elsewhere (presumably Carla's words). He's reduced to the point of having to rely on the charity of a child. Chigurh still gets away, and he probably eventually forgets about Carla and goes back to his killing. But that's not the point: Carla goes out on her terms. She has no one left in her life, so she's able to spit on Chigurh's offer of a 50/50 shot at survival. She'd rather take her chances forcing him to face his own free will, and even if he kills her he'll know it was his choice to murder an innocent woman, not fate's choice.
Folks will have an infinite # of takes on this movie and its ending though. I think in the context of Cormac McCarthy's work (he wrote the book), it's a "happy" ending obviously with a big asterisk on "happy." But that's how McCarthy's happy endings work (The Road, without spoiling it). *edit:* So many years later and I'm still trying to work out the subtext of the last scene with TLJ. For me the ending is the scene with Carla and the two kids, the TLJ scene is just the "denoument". Curious choice on the Coens' part to end on that scene. I've heard a few good theories but none that are really great.
Chigurh's gonna have pretty damn hard time shooting a gun with that injury, especially without professional care but I agree with what you said.
Carla’s death scene in the film is one of the rare departures from the book. In the book, they have a chilling dialogue where Chigurh basically convinces her that what he is doing is right according to his code and she has no choice but to call the coin. She does. I think it’s interesting that the Cohen brothers made a different statement by leaving this piece of dialog out and not showing her fate.
The good thing about that scene with Carla and Chigurh is that you could interpret it either in a psychological or philosophical sense. And no matter what your interpretation of it, Carla 'wins'.
- One interpretation of the movie overall is that Anton is some sort of actual 'avenging angel' who isn't necessarily "good" in any sense of the word but is allowed to get away with his crimes because he's protected by a higher power of some sort; as long as he plays by the 'rules' (these rules being that he has to give unnecessary victims a chance to survive with the coin toss).
When Carla refused to call it, she forced him to break his divine rules by killing her anyway (mainly due to his own pride), even though he was perfectly aware that it wasn't necessary to do so. When he does, his protection is revoked and he's left vulnerable for the crash afterwards (the implication being that he won't last much longer without his higher power watching over him).
- Another interpretation is that Anton was simply able to get away with his crimes for so long because he was a pure predator who was completely unfettered by any delusions of morality. By making it seem like his unnecessary murders were due to fate and chance rather than any culpability on his part, he was able to divorce himself of any guilt for them. When Carla refuses to call it, she shatters his self-conception of being an intimidating killer _and_ drives home the point that he is the one responsible for the horrible things he does. This is enough to break his concentration and it leads to the car crash. At best, it's likely that it put Anton off his game long enough to cause him serious problems for the future. At worst, it's possible that it will lead to a downward spiral which will cause his eventual death or imprisonment.
And if Carla had agreed to the coin toss, the time it would have taken to carry it out would have changed the time when Anton passed through that intersection (No matter which way it had turned out). She changed HIS fate by refusing to play along and literally set him on a collision course with disaster. I love it!
Poor Woody Harleson, everyone gangster until Chigurh smiles at you.
You should watch "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" That's my favorite of their movies. It's a work of art!
THIS 👆
That's one of my all time movies. I could watch it endlessly.
Javier Bardem's Oscar was very much deserved
It's definitely a movie you need to see at least twice. Tommy Lee Jones is so good his final monolog is pure Gold!
Everything about this movie is flawless. Everything.
It is perfect. Best film of this century so far
Fate. The moment Josh Brolin took that money, he sealed his wife, himself and and all the other people fate. Tommy Lee Jones, the old sherif. Is watching the world change and becoming irrelevant.
Fun fact. Josh Brolin and Bardem don’t share a single frame of any shot in any scene.
17:49 You can totally tell! 🤣
The moment he decided to bring water to that dying man sealed his fate. To me, it's the one logical flaw in the movie.
@@Bob1014ify the tracking device was in the money in the briefcase. Even if he hadn’t gone back to the Mexican. Chigah would eventually tracked him down. The tag line of the film is There are no clean getaways. Once he took that money, he walked through a door of violence and death that he couldn’t just walk away from. That’s what this movie is all about. He can’t walk into that kind of world and and walk out unscaved.
@@WolfHreda you don’t see Javier you just see a flash. Also when brolin shoots at him from behind the car you just see the shotgun in the Frame and not Brolin. In fact all three characters are never in the same frame ever.
Yeah, i forgot about the tracker.
The three main actors never share the screen together...
There's this book called Brave New World by Aldous Huxley that you should definitely give a read
Orgy porgy?
Wholesome fact: Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin became best friends while filming this
That's a handsome as hell friendship!
And now they'll be in a film together again in Dune.
Not from sharing scenes, they didn't :D
I wonder how Javier acted Behind the scenes then. Probably very wholesome. Because man is his character very unsettling. Idk if I could be friends with someone who plays a psycho to such a great degree. Thats why I'm curious as to how he was in behind the scenes. Doing a complete 180 and being a likable guy. Hard to imagine
Maybe Clint Eastwood and Andy Robinson were buddies during the filming of Dirty Harry.
This is in my top 5 favorite movies! Javier Bardem as Anton Chigur is one of the best examples of perfect casting.
This and "Hell or Highwater" the first time I actually viewed movies as actual Art.
I would say they are modern day westerns too.
Chris Pine stole the show in that film
@@15blackshirt I would say Ben Foster did, strange he didnt get an Oscar nod that year!
and the first Sicario
@@bernhardtsen74, it's because he gets overshadowed by better known actors, and lacks the screen presence
I’m kind of hot and cold with the Coen brothers films, this film is their best imo.👍
"it seems like a bunch if random things." hence, the flip of the coin
One of my favourite movies of all time. I just rewatched it today and it's an insane coincidence that you just released this.
Also Mell...Road to Perdition. Another amazing movie with Jude Law and Tom Hanks. It's wonderful
Val (Doc Holliday) Kilmer: There is no normal life, it's just life...
You're a daisy if you do...
Bardem's voice for Anton is so...I don't know how to describe it. It's compelling, but it hits this particular timbre that makes it sound inhuman. Like the Devil took human form but can't completely pass for one.
Yeah his weapon is basically what you use to kill pigs…thats a strong symbolism i think
Easily my favorite movie of the last 20 years. Add to that, I never noticed the lack of a soundtrack until the mariachi scene, when I realized it was the first real music of the movie. That's how much it had me enthralled by the dialog, acting, and directing.
Lordy. You see so much. Glad to have found you, sir.
When I teach film review for Intro to Composition, I use the gas station scene as an activity. I tell the kids we're going to watch a scene and I want them to tell me if they liked it or not, and I want them to specifically focus on the acting. It forces them to think beyond just their gut reactions and forces them to EXPLAIN why something was enjoyable to them. Also, it's an AMAZING scene.
I’ve seen other comments from people going to school for film making say that they were showed that scene as an example of building tension through the acting, camera work, dialogue, sound, etc. I’m not in film school or anything but it’s interesting to hear how the same scene can be used as an example and teaching tool for so many different things.
It’s a masterful scene because it does so much with so little. It makes you nervous and it’s unsettling even though there doesn’t appear to be much going on. It’s all those little, subtle details that make us uncomfortable and it’s brilliant.
“Damn that man is lucky.” Yeah…
Loving these reviews Mello! Thank you for your amazing personality and commentary. Finn fact: the actress, Kelly Macdonald, who plays josh brolin’s wife is actually the voice actress of Merida From Brave. Crazy to think her southern Texan accent is believable and she’s Scottish !
So this is my favorite part because of the detail in sound design. When he's in the hotel room and just finds the tracker the tension is already high. It's soooo quiet. There is a moment in the silence and the camera is on Josh Brolin there is the faintest whisper of a silencer in the distance and he looks up. For me that built the tension so much more because he knew it was up at that moment and that he was starting to formulate a plan when he called the front desk. It established all the silence between the front desk and his room and as to why Anton takes his boots off
This is actually my favorite thriller of all time, maybe my favorite movie of all time. It's that good.
No music. Glad you said it. Just pure grit.
Cormac McCarthy, who wrote the novel, is probably the greatest living American author. His prose is as thick as poetry and you can't help but be dragged along helplessly by it. I highly recommend that you read one of his books. It's a hell of an experience. McCarthy also wrote "The Road" which was also made into an amazing movie. It's very dark, very very very dark, much more dark than No Country, but it's also a beautiful moving story about a father who will do anything to save his son.
I’m glad you’re enjoying it!! Such an intense character study
Out of all of the Coen brothers movies that I seen. This movie is the best one that I seen.
I don't think I'd call him sadistic, he doesn't take pleasure in causing pain, he just sees himself as an agent of fate.
The coen brothers do not miss this is one of my favorite movies
over the shoulder shots are great because in a scone as good as the "friendo" scene it means they have to do it twice for both shots.
Many people (Including me) have complained how the final showdown was off camera. The reason they did it off screen is because that's how the book went. In a book, I can see how it would be a surprising twist to reveal the death, but in a movie, we'd rather see the shootout play out.
Coen brothers are great writers. Have you commented on Fargo the movie and series yet? Do a marathon!
Roger Deacons was the cinematographer for this movie as well as several other Coen Bros movies. Hes an absolute master of his craft
There is a lot of interpretation in this movie and when you learn the nuances of the characters and how it all ties together. it's a stroke of genius, a movie that just keeps giving.
Sicario is a beautiful film as well. Great cast, Brolin, Blunt, Del Toro
Cool review man. Yeah, this is a movie you'll probably have to watch a few times, some of the stuff is just so subtle.
You get a thousand "you must watch" requests every video you post(I suggested No Country For Old Men in the comments of your videos once, maybe you read it lol) I'm sure. But seeing how much you loved Heat, dude, do YOURSELF a favour and watch Collateral. Again,like Heat, directed by Michael Mann, starring Tom Cruise and Jaime Foxx. In one word...Tense.
Keep up the great work man, you're my favorite movie critic on RUclips!
@@mikemath9508 oh man, I loved it. Especially the nightclub scene. Please, what was it you didn't like? I'm always open for some constructive criticism. And thanks for your comment man, I think we are both here cause this channel is awesome. Always happy and ready to dive deep into great movies🙂
@@mikemath9508 thanks for the reply mate. But...
But...
That one line.."is that my briefcase homie?"
Man, that is Up There.
Its all subjective I guess.
Can't wait Friendo!
Obligatory comment about the fact that the character of Anton Chigur has been selected by many psychologists and Psychiatrists to be the most genuine representation of a true/real life Psychopath portrayed in the history of film.
Barden said he took inspiration from Terminator to the character. BTW his mom died recently. What a great woman here in Spain...
If you liked this, you'll love "Hell or High Water."
never watched it, loved no country for old men tho, is it worth watching? i heard some good things about hell or high water
@@yiannis777-l9c Yes
@@yiannis777-l9c not as good but still a good film on its own Bridges is always great
Tommy Lee Jones' portrayal of Ed Tom Bell is probably my second favorite performance of his ever, next to that of Captain Woodrow F. Call in Lonesome Dove.
You have to check it out the other masterpiece of 2007, There Will be Blood, one of the best performances of all time
^^^this
NCFOM and There Will be Blood are two of the best films ever made.
Dude, you gotta see “Cliffhanger”. Big time action flick from the 90’s
This is one of the films I watched in the theater and walked out afterwards with NO IDEA what I just watched. I've since seen it 15+ times (maybe once a year) and find something new every single time. One of the few masterpieces made this century, in my opinion.
This is a great movie man...imagine that dude hunting you down, crazy
HAHAHAHA love the reaction to the ending.
You talked through my favorite line.
"This is just a mess ain't it sheriff?"
"If it ain't, it'll do 'til the mess gets here."
I love watching reaction videos to my favorite movies, but it sucks when they're reacting to something trivial, and miss the real artful stuff.
this movie is amazing. the whole time your waiting for the good guy (tommy lee jones) to step in and save the situation. but he's old and tired of this awful world. the movie is about the absence of God.
I watched this movie drunk, I can tell you the photography in this movie is beautiful
Do Fargo. It's my favorite Corn Bro flick.
It's not a Coen movie, but Slingblade is a great movie.
the dream at the end is so heavy. amazing film! thanks mell
It’s so insane that in like a solid 10 years the coen brothers went from the big lebowski to this LOL
not that insane considering Fargo and Blood Simple came before Lebowski
@@mr_k4tz very true i feel like sometimes if i try to go down a filmmaker’s filmography sometimes i bias myself toward one way which i definitely did with their more comedic stuff early on with intolerable cruelty big lebowski and burn after reading but i see what you mean now for sure
McCarthys novels are no easy thing to put to screen
Love your reaction to the end .
When you said, you didnt expect carson wells to die like that. That was the point. Same as Llewlyn just dying, or the car crash. It isn't cinematic. People just die. Things just are. Good guys don't always win, bad guys don't always lose. That's the genius of this movie. So unexpected, yet so just what happens everyday. Which is why is ends like it does......
THEEE brilliant part of this movie...that adds to the intensity/creepiness...there is NO soundtrack...xoxoxo
"The coin don't have no say. It's just *you."*
Words to live and die by.
YES! This is one of my top 5 favourite films of all time!
I first saw this movie when I was 19 and it had just come out. I didn't get the ending.
I'm in my mid 30s now, my parents are in their 70s. It makes you think about the comfort they're able to give you by just existing and dealing with mortality. When they're gone, you don't see them again until you're dead (if you believe in an afterlife).
The sheriff was the real protagonist of the movie, and it's about his struggles grappling with a changing world he can no longer keep up with. He's in the twilight of his life, and seeing his father in his dream was him realizing he would die soon(ish).
That's my interpretation of the end, anyway
15:13 Anton has a suppressed Remington 11-87 semi-automatic 12 gauge shotgun, and Llewelyn has a sawed-off Winchester 1897 Field pump/slam-fire 12 gauge shotgun
In many of Cormac McCarthys books (the author of No Country) there are running themes that dwell on fate. The actions of a character seal their fate, and nothing can be done to change the consequences once the decision is made. In this case, when Llewelyn Moss took the money from the cartel, his fate and the fate of his family was sealed in death.
The sheriffs dream at the end can be interpreted as his father in the afterlife. He sees his time is coming to an end. His father is calling him and has created a fire for him. He had become too old for this world and sees himself being welcomed into the next.
Best supporting actor winners:
2007-Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men
2008-Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight
2009-Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds
Three of the greatest cinematic villains, back to back to back.
A whole bunch of random stuff- pretty good definition of life.
Kelly Macdonald worked wonders with a fairly small role in this movie. Everything she did was spot on.
3:15 - When you're looking through a scope from that far away , life DOES look like bad CGI.
If you want to see more Javier Bardem and probably cry, I recommend watching "The Sea Inside"
For the longest I praised this movie as being the best movie with the worst ending, and I stand by what I said all those years ago, but now that I'm getting older, I'm starting to understand the movie more and more, and I think the ending is perfect.
You're not watching a story about a man trying to save himself from a psychopathic killer, you're watching a story about an old man trying to understand the chaos in the world, and realizing he's not really built for it anymore.
This movie deserves a good rewatch every 5-10 years, because you'll pull more and more from it every time, and you'll understand it s bit better the more life you got under your belt.
Two movies you need to see. There Will Be Blood which came out the same year as No Country. Also Hell or High Water also based on a Cormac McCarthy novel.
This movie begins and ends with the sheriff. He is the main character. That’s why we don’t always see the action.
Movies are usually written with a clear beginning, climax, and ending. Life is not. Life is chaos and chance. The brilliance and realism is not writing a movie like a movie, rather like the true nature of reality, which seldom has any sort of gratifying ending, no recognizable arch, and chance and chaos have more bearing than justice or karma. At the heart of this movie is a Western, people say the wild west is in the past, however things are far wilder now then they ever were in the 1800's in the right time moment and place.
First time I saw this I had to rewind it 3 times because I thought my movie was skipping when they killed old boy off screen. Was so shocked. And then following up with the crash at the end.