Texas, 1980: While hunting in the desert, Llewelyn Moss (James Brolin) stumbles upon the aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong and steals the dirty money left behind. But the bad guys aren't willing to say goodbye to $2million without a fight, and implacable hitman Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) is dispatched to 'deal' with Moss. With world-weary Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) trying to get to Moss before Chigurh, the three men criss-cross the barren Texan landscape heading towards an apparently inevitable bloody showdown.
No Country For Old Men marks a sensational return to form for the Coen Brothers. Adapted from Cormac McCarthy's novel of the same name, the moody masterpiece scales the heights of The Big Lebowski and Fargo. Laden with Oscars, this is a lethal concoction of all the ingredients the pair likes best, with blistering, unrelenting violence shot through with jet-black humour and acerbic wit. The movie is further elevated by the cast's top-notch performances.
Bardem sends a chill down the spine as the clean-up guy contracted to bring back the loot at all costs. Granted automatic entrance into the Hollywood hall of villainy fame, Chigurh is a merciless monster, a psychopath who holds lives to the toss of a coin.
Meanwhile, Tommy Lee Jones is in his element as a weathered, weary lawman longing for retirement, chasing down an unspeakable evil that he can no longer dissect or understand. A claret-covered classic, No Country For Old Men sees the Coens reclaim their cinematic crowns.
No Country for Old Men is a Film programme that first aired in 2007 and has been classified a 15 certificate.
