And the winner is....

I was very happy to see No Country for Old Men win Best Picture, Best Director, & Best Supporting Actor. K and I got a chance to see the movie on one of our infrequent date nights, sans kids.

What would you do if you were a veteran of the Vietnam War, stumbled upon the remnants of a drug deal gone all wrong and took $2 M dollars from the scene? Then to have pangs of guilt for the one wounded Mexican at the scene and decide to go back and give him drinking water later that night. That’s a loose translation of the plot, but it’s a setup for the rest of this fantastic movie.

Josh Brolin plays the grizzled Vietnam vet who has the misfortune of finding this grisly scene. Tommy Lee Jones is the ‘I’m about to retire’ sheriff trying to track him down before the proprietors of the loot can get to him. And Best Supporting Actor, Javier Bardem, plays the hit man sent to track him down and retrieve the money; it was no contest for supporting actor. Javier was chilling as the killer, even more chilling than his weapon of choice (which shall remain nameless). But was it more chilling than his haircut?

Set in the post Vietnam War era this movie captures the isolation of Brolin’s character with the vast open landscapes of its Southwest Texas surroundings. I am somewhat biased due to the fact that the Coen brothers are the directors of one of my all time favorite movies, Raising Arizona (“These here balloons blow up into funny shapes?”, ‘Not unless round’s funny’). I could quote this movie all day long; K can attest to that. They also directed O Brother, Where Art Thou?, which was extremely funny as well.

Even if you’re not a fan of violence in films, I would highly recommend No Country for Old Men. Deep characters, great cinematography and direction make this a must-see. I will be the first to admit that I still have no idea what in the world happens in the last 20 minutes, or so, of the movie.

I need someone more literary to figure that one out…