NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

"No Country For Old Men" is chalk-full of meat & potatoes; laced with an array of the Coen Brother`s rarest and most exotic celluloid-kitchen spices. There are tasty chunks of art in this cowboy stew, fur sure, my fine young rodeo-raunchero! I saw this film last Saturday night and I am still soaking it in. The Alamo Draft House was sold out and the Arbor was jam-packed too. I got the book by Cormac McCarthy so I can begin to take this thing apart. I`ve read maybe a dozen reviews and big people are saying like this is the best movie that has ever been made. I don`t really know what is going on here; I`m not saying it is a conspiracy but lots of folks are really behind this movie. I`m trying to look at all the Coen`s old movies too, in order to absorb their vocabulary, and this may help when I see "No Country For Old Men" again in a few weeks. I`m seeing it as a sorta medieval allegory of the New West. This aint the world of Hop-Along-Cassidy anymore, but more the rough and tumble raucous of the drug wars that started surfacing around 1980, the time of the movie action. Javier Bardem reminded me of Frank Booth (played brilliantly by Dennis Hopper) in "Blue Velvet"-yea, Chigurh is a drug war monster, a sociopath with the Beatle-Cut-From-HELL and the silly offerings of riddles that are high stake wagers of life and death. Tommy Lee is the stoic philosopher who has seen crisper days, but sees the writing on the wall-society is crumbling at apart into protons of infinitesimal teen-i-ness. It is almost all over, and Ed Tom Bell knows it. Much of this concerns his acceptance of this status. The walking over the border bridge by Llewelyn Moss felt very familiar to me. The wideshots of cactus, prairie, and mountains is something I have seen much of too. The little border towns of Del Rio and Eagle Pass were just perfect for the trip that`s comin` across yonder. The rotund trailer park honkey-mamasita was the only one who held her own with Chigurh. Some of these gals from West Texas are made of sterner stuff. Woody Harrelson played the cocky and cool investigator with the irony of a monkey on his shoulders in that he sensed that things wouldn`t go too good. And sure enough there were some rough spots in there for him. The plot didn`t always make sense, but once it dawned on me that the audience needed to be on a more frothy level, I was okay. Everything was mysterious and symbolic, and the generic,seedy hotels where drug deals go down on small border towns are real,... where mostly things are figgidy and nervous, and accomplices will be lucky to grip terra firma another 24 hours. There is no justice here and the Dark Side emerges out of the void smelling like musty roses. And there are real Texans here or good actresses like Kelly Macdonald that have caught the West Texas essence. The plot revolves around the confiscation of more than two million in drug money cash grabbed up by a seemingly lucky cowpoke played by Josh Brolin. His efforts to hang on to the bread is primarily what all the hoopla is about. "A Simple Plan" came to mind and I knew there would be oodles of trouble. I wasn`t wrong. Just the carnage of busted drug deal makes this a great movie, but there is tons more...I`m still pondering some of it...like where did Carson Wells misfire? Where is the music? How could people flee to El Paso for safety? How could Chigurh recharge that cattle device? Did it have a battery charger that goes with it? Why did Llewelyn return to the scene of the crime? Why couldn`t Ed Tom Bell better protect, or in any way protect Carla Jean and her mother? Did some big drug wars really begin in 1980 (is that historically accurate)? Why was such a villain like Chigurh so idealized? The Coen Brothers are big jokers but I don`t believe that they are that sick!...That`s just a few queries I have...

I felt lucky to pick up this package at Waterloo Video yesterday, but it was more than I really should have spent. By the time I pick up some of the individual titles, even if I get them used, I will be spending more. But I suspect they will be bringing home the bacon this year at the Oscars. Last night I watched "Blood Simple" from 1985 and did not seem to remember it very good, so it was like I was seeing it for the first time. It is an absolute masterpiece, very Texasie, and I immediately thought of Thompson`s "Blood and Money". This one however actually takes place in Central Texas. The final scene happens somewhere in Williamson County, not a particularly friendly county. When the Coen`s tell a tale things are not exactly what they seem. By applying this principle to "No Country For Old Men" the whole thing makes alot more sense. I am beginning to believe that this is an existentialist piece, maybe a Western, but with an Albert Camus take. This would explain everything, since stuff does not have to make absolute sense when cast in this philosophical light. And isn`t this the way that these drug war scenarios go down? I believe this to be true. There are no John Waynes or Gary Coopers here. Llewelyn Moss is a marked man. Ed Tom Bell is a blast from the past-powerless over the new forces of evil that have been unleashed on the border of Texas. Just view the documentary "Cocaine Cowboys" and you will see what really happened in Miami in the seventies and eighties. we almost lost Miami! Think of Port Royal and Captain Morgan`s ruthless cutthroat pirates in the late 17th century, who had virtual control of the carribean! Pablo Escobar was more powerful than just about anyone. Everyone who goes to "No Country..." should also see "Cocaine Cowboys". Those two are bookends of understanding to both the fictional tale and the particulars of record!