No Country For Old Men

MrMarvelous

MrMarvelous

MrMarvelous

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Evening,

Is the above a good book? No Country For Old Men has to be one of my all time favourite movies and i've just come off the trivia page on IMDB after reading just 1 'spoiler' if you will about the start. Right at the start you get Anton get taken into a Police car then driven to the local station. I never really knew what all that was about, I assumed he was a vagrant a la Rocky but having read the IMDB trivia thing, this amazed me! Basically he wanted to get caught sneaking in from Mexico to the US just to see if he could escape, I thought that was amazing and stopped reading there as i'm worried there might be many more things and if I should read the book.

I'd be grateful if anyone has read and watched the movie and what your opinions are on it. Is the movie faithful to the book or is the book much better that the movie?

Thanks.
 
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So you read a spoiler, then repeat it on here and don't put it in spoiler tags? :p

Niiiiiiiiice.

Fortunately I diverted my eyes away in time but I thought it was a boring and terribly pretentious film.
 
Nitefly said:
So you read a spoiler, then repeat it on here and don't put it in spoiler tags? :p

Niiiiiiiiice.

Fortunately I diverted my eyes away in time but I thought it was a boring and terribly pretentious film.
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Beautifully shot though, it's one of those films where every frame could be a photograph in its own right.
 
Nitefly said:
a boring and terribly pretentious film.
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+1

This is one of very few films I actively dislike (the only other that comes to mind is Watchmen). I really felt cheated by the end of the movie as I spent the entire time waiting for something to happen!
 
Loved the brooding pace of the film, not your typical ending but it was well made.

Hushpower shotgun FTW
 
Not read the book ... I wrote a review about the movie on my gaming community forum years ago which gave a clearer picture of what the movie was about to some people.

I can why it can be considered boring or having no point as a lot of people focused on the hitman and the whys, etc. Not sure if this is considered spoilers or anything but the crux of the movie was actually the sherrif's scenes that bookends the start and the end of the movie. Its quite a philosophical movie rather than a crime movie tbh.

The movie isn't about the hitman, its about the sherrif's place in the world and how he perceives it. He is of the old guard where his ideals and morals are of a different era. The hitman is an allegory for chaos and the inevitability of change. As the sherrif follows the hitman's path, he feels much out of place. In the end he laments his retirement, effectively stepping aside to allow a successor who may understand the "new world order". Hence the title is "No Country For Old Men" ;)
 
^^ Problem is the side stories overshadow the "main" story which while intentional doesn't really work too well for film and results in something that despite some good bits is ultimately quite dull to sit through and watch - even if your someone who caught onto the significance of the opening monologue.
 
bledd. said:
Loved the brooding pace of the film, not your typical ending but it was well made.
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Vonhelmet said:
It's an amazing film.
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Agreed, one of my favourites. I'm a fan of David Lynch films which also have the same underlying, unsettling feeling. Only realised the 2nd time I watched it that there's no music in the entire film either which makes it all the more remarkable.
 
Fantastic film. In my top 5 favs infact. I'd agree with the poster above who mentioned brooding pace, spot on description. Constantly thinking something awful is about to happen and it usually does but its the space between that really lets it breathe and the payoffs that DON'T come actually make it even better. Also it is beautiful.
 
JBod said:
+1

This is one of very few films I actively dislike (the only other that comes to mind is Watchmen). I really felt cheated by the end of the movie as I spent the entire time waiting for something to happen!
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Two excellent films.
 
Tazzfalcon said:
Fantastic film. In my top 5 favs infact. I'd agree with the poster above who mentioned brooding pace, spot on description. Constantly thinking something awful is about to happen and it usually does but its the space between that really lets it breathe and the payoffs that DON'T come actually make it even better. Also it is beautiful.
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Watch the film "Drive", has a similar feel to it
 
Love No Country and love Drive, both great movies. Ten years ago I'd probably have hated both on account of boredom, but I nowadays I like the broody thought-provoking type of film as much as the action-packed stuff.

The Drive soundtrack though, is simply fantastic and helps make the film imo. That and the luscious Hendricks.
 
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