(--LazerScope-->>
11-26-2007, 05:12 PM
"Call it. Friend-O."
The Coen brothers return to form in this tense noir-ish thriller. Josh Brolin plays a regular blue-collar worker who stumbles upon a cache of heroin and $2 million in cash in an apparent deal gone wrong. He makes off with the loot, only to be pursued by one of the most unforgettable screen villains you'll ever see: Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh
You leave the movie with Bardemn's character in mind. He's a hired kiler who's not quite there. While talking to you his mind seems to be somewhere else. Killing is of no consequence but a means to an end. His character comes across as less that of a man with a purpose, and more so as a "force of nature". And here is where the theme of the movie is reinforced.
It seems the Coens are commenting on the theme of nature. Man, try as he might, is what he is (i.e. a leopard cannot change its spots). In nature, animals are characters in a grand opera that they play out, advantaged and disadvantaged alike, 'til death. And so, Man is no different. A person has wants, and needs, and certain tendencies that influences his decisions. And as a human being, he must see those decision to the end.
As a sheriff investigating the rash of murders and the cat and mouse game taking place, Tommy Lee Jones is a woeful, tired, unsettled character, wondering what compels men to act as they do. By the end of the film, he finds his answer:
Because man, simpley, must.
5 out of 5
The Coen brothers return to form in this tense noir-ish thriller. Josh Brolin plays a regular blue-collar worker who stumbles upon a cache of heroin and $2 million in cash in an apparent deal gone wrong. He makes off with the loot, only to be pursued by one of the most unforgettable screen villains you'll ever see: Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh
You leave the movie with Bardemn's character in mind. He's a hired kiler who's not quite there. While talking to you his mind seems to be somewhere else. Killing is of no consequence but a means to an end. His character comes across as less that of a man with a purpose, and more so as a "force of nature". And here is where the theme of the movie is reinforced.
It seems the Coens are commenting on the theme of nature. Man, try as he might, is what he is (i.e. a leopard cannot change its spots). In nature, animals are characters in a grand opera that they play out, advantaged and disadvantaged alike, 'til death. And so, Man is no different. A person has wants, and needs, and certain tendencies that influences his decisions. And as a human being, he must see those decision to the end.
As a sheriff investigating the rash of murders and the cat and mouse game taking place, Tommy Lee Jones is a woeful, tired, unsettled character, wondering what compels men to act as they do. By the end of the film, he finds his answer:
Because man, simpley, must.
5 out of 5