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Written by Nick Da Costa | Wednesday, February 27, 2008 |
Framing this relatively simple tale of a disastrous drug trade, and a whole pile of money that brings psychotic killer Anton Chighur (Javier Bardem) down on the head of naive Texan Llywellyn Moss (Josh Brolin) is the poignant tale of Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) and the inevitable destruction of his values by this new evil.
And that’s the interesting thing about this film; that it presents a character who seems so wholly unique and contrary to everything these simple people believe. And yet Chighur is really an incarnation of that primal force that has existed since their ancestors worked the land. Before we have even seen him being taken away by the patrolman, his introduction is set in the slow, beautifully composed shots of Roger Deakins, Cohen Bros regular. The next time we move back to that same landscape, it is through the scope of Brolin’s Moss, and with this the Cohen Bros set up an organic back and forth between these two characters.
Moving away from their usual slightly intrusive directorial wit, scenes are allowed to flow naturally, the removal of almost all non-diegetic sound, plays up the isolation and power of setting and nature (wind has rarely sounded so telling an element as it does here) and involves the audience in a far more realistic way. And because of that involvement when the scenes frequently crank up the tension it’s almost unbearable; a real accomplishment in a time where empty action blockbusters continue to flood the market.
Performances are strong across the board, and though Bardem makes a uniquely chilling villain, and Jones has never been better as a weary old cowboy, modest enough to admit his own inadequacy, it’s Brolin that’s the real surprise. A strong character actor, his is a ruggedly authentic portrayal of a man that while seemingly out of his depth, shows great fortitude in the face of an insurmountable force. Though it might seem that his end is an undeserving rug pull, it shows both great fidelity to the wonderful source novel by Cormac McCarthy, and is a very telling message about the present state of the world where heroes rarely prevail. A masterpiece, and a happy return to form by one of cinema’s most celebrated pairings.
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