No Country For Old Men

I'm going to begin this review by telling a story. Once upon a time there were two old men who lived in a land forgotten by time. Trailers came and went, as did raving reviews and pre-Oscar hype. These two old men had to endure the hardships of stupid, mindless movies filling the halls of the cineplex while the cream of the crop passed them over time and time again. The decision-makers in Hollywood believed that the common movie-goer was a complete idiot, and that "Saw 4" and "The Bee Movie" were the best we deserved. Through a simple twist of fate, or perhaps an accounting error, one day, much to their surprise, on one of their city's 73 screens, finally a film of consequence appeared. So without a moments hesitation these two old men sped north through the howling cold to see what the hoped would be the first really good movie in a long time. The End

Rob and I went to see "No Country For Old Men" on Wednesday night. I had seen "Fargo" with Rob way back in the day, and that is one of those movies that sticks with you for a long time. If you've seen and appreciate "Fargo", this film will be familiar and will not disappoint. If you haven't seen "Fargo", I don't really know how to gauge what your opinion will be. It's not more of the same, or a copy of "Fargo", rather it's a similar look at a similar subject. Instead of the hard cold loneliness of North Dakota, this time it's the southern wilderness of Texas and New Mexico. For those of us whose neighbors are right next door, or even within walking distance, the way of life portrayed in this film can be as foreign as living in another country. The mood of the film is established early, and although we may become attached to certain characters, and we may hope for certain outcomes, we pretty much know that the filmmakers aren't that optimistic. I'm trying to explain this film without giving too much away. This is one of those films that you almost have to see before I can talk to you about it. It's not so much about specific circumstances or plot points, rather it's about atmosphere and symbolism. Rob and I are the two old men from the story. Hollywood has a love/hate relationship with us, and even that is complicated to explain. We spend enough money at theaters for Hollywood to love us, but we spread as much negativity as we can about bad movies, so Hollywood must hate us for that. We both love good movies, from Rob's "A Christmas Story" to my "Casablanca" both of which are straight out of Hollywood. But we both hate Hollywood for lumping us all into a category full of morons. What are we going to do about it? I don't know for sure, but "No Country For Old Men" gives me a glimmer of hope.