1 min to read

No Country for Old Men

My favorite movie of all time

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Cormac McCarthy’s 2005 novel “No Country for Old Men” which later turned into a movie by Cohen Brothers, is not your typical western. It can be considered as a neo-western. Neo-westerns have typical western setting & storytelling but incorporate new values and different world view.

Story takes place in 1980s west Texas. Hunter Llewelyn Moss stumbled up on a drug deal gone wrong and ends up with a briefcase full of large coporations’ money. Anton Chigurh, a hitman starts hunting down Moss to retrieve the money. Meanwhile local sheriff Ed Tom Bell tasks with following Chigurh’s trail to track down Moss to sort out the mess before Chigurh does. Coporate sends another trained killer after Moss to recover the money while Mexican cartel make their own rev for cash. As man hunting spread across state of Texas, Moss tries to keep himself and money safe.

Where, hero in classic western prevails, No Country’s hero(Moss) doesn’t win, even doesn’t survive. Villan(Chigurh) gets away in the end without facing any justice. Sheriff Bell fails to bring anyone to justice and survives by remaining in sidelines of action. Contrast to typical western ending with a shootout, story ends with a slow monologue by sheriff Bell.

The real gem and glue of the story is Anton Chigurh character who has his own brand of justice, which is extremely harsh and totally arbitrary. Even the one who claims to know him cannot even begin to stop or even slow him down.

In the end, it becomes obvious that Sheriff Bell is one of the “old men” in the title. In the opening monologue he talks how time has changed, so is the crimes. Throughtout the story, while following Chigurh’s trail, Bell is trying to make sense of chaos and senseless violence. He is unable to comprehend the new reality and feels out of place in this new world. Defeated, he retires and become depressed.

In summary, No country is a gripping story and you can spend hours dissecting every aspect of it. I definitely recommend this book and movie to anyone.