No Country for Old Me

I was fortunate enough to secure a ticket to AMC's Oscar Best Picture all day extravaganza. This is where they play all 5 best picture nominated films back to back. No County For Old Men was the last movie played on the Movie Saturday, but in my opinion it was the most Oscar worthy (although I thought Juno was the most entertaining). The acting was excellent, the storyline interesting, and the script was superb. The only bad thing about this movie was its ending; I sort of like it, but many sharing the theater with me on movie Saturday did not.

Plot: A regular good ole' boy, Llewellyn Moss (Josh Brolin), is out hunting somewhere in Texas when he happens upon a grisly sight of a drug deal gone bad. All the drug runners are dead and the drugs and the money left there for the taking. Llewellyn takes the money and the cartel sends a hit man after him to get the money back. And for once the regular good ole boy manages to avoid the hit man pretty well. He is very smart and hides his tracks well. Also after Llewellyn is a second clean up crew from the cartel. So he has people coming after him left and right. He must get away with the money and kill or discourage those after him and keep his wife, Carla Jean (Kelly Macdonald), safe. On his side, is the local sheriff, Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), who is trying to help catch the killer and save Llewellyn. The characters are interesting and the movie moves well. I was never bored nor tired of the characters in this move.

I thought this movie was very well done. I could tell right away by the demeanor of the characters where we were in the country. I knew we had to be in Texas or Oklahoma. The dialogue, demeanor, script of the people was perfect. Nothing seemed fake or forced. The sheriff even reminded me of my grandfather. I thought the plot was solid and the acting well done.

The acting was nicely done. Tommy Lee Jones plays the sheriff who comes from a long line of law enforcement officers. He is a Good Ole Boy who has spent his life protecting the people of his town. He reminds me of my grandfather. Anton Chigurh is played by Javier Bardem. Anton is the psycho killer that is after Llewellyn. He seems to decide to kill people on whim or by the flip of the coin. Bardem does a good job and earns himself an Oscar nomination for the role. Llewellyn Moss is played by Josh Brolin who plays the role smashingly. He is just your run of the mill Texas good ole' boy. He hunts and has always worked for a living. You actually find yourself cheering for Llewellyn to get away with the money. Kelly Macdonald plays Carla Jean, Llewellyn's wife. She is a spunky little thing, which adds some character to Llewellyn's life. All in all the acting was great and is part of what made the characters. You can actually believe in these characters and that they are real people out there somewhere.

This entire movie was very well done and put together. The script and dialogue was great. The plot was solid but the ending was rather weak. The acting was great and the characterization carried the movie. I enjoyed this film and I hope it's the one to win the Best Picture Oscar.