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Bardem got the statue, but it was Tommy Lee Jones who had me admiring his every move and phrase.
In their joint theatrical review, John J. Puccio and Christopher Long only gave this film a 6 and 5, respectively--John because he lost interest mid-way, and Chris because he had a problem with Chigurh. So would I have come in at a lower number, were I not reviewing this after all the accolades? Not for a minute. Everyone praised "Brokeback Mountain," and when I saw that I thought it was the most cardboard story imaginable. And when "Titanic" and "Crash" won Best Picture Oscars, I was among those in the audience (home, that is) shouting things like "Boo" and "Hiss." I thought "Good Will Hunting" kicked "Titanic's" butt, as did "As Good as It Gets," and for my money "Capote," "Good Night, and Good Luck," and "Munich" were better films than "Crash." But that's the way the movie (and reviewing) business goes. People raved this year about "There Will Be Blood," and that's the one that seemed more ordinary to me than "epic." This year, the two films that impressed me most had strong, almost poetic cinematography that worked well to support the film's emotional core. "Atonement" and this film by Joel and Ethan Coen. And curiously, the ending in both seems less than satisfying. But the performances in "No Country for Old Men" are wonderful, the script brings the novel visually to life, and the film has the elegiac feel that has marked McCarthy's contemporary Western sagas.
Video:
These days it's hard to tell what's player and what's disc-related, but my copy of "No Country for Old Men" had some compression squiggles around the 13-minute mark that lasted for about 15 seconds, and then the film was fine again. The 1080p picture looks great, though, with colors saturated just enough to look natural for the arid Texas landscape. The black levels appear strong, the picture is super-sharp, and there's a very nice amount of detail, even on the edges with bright colors such as red and orange.
Audio:
The audio is also strong, with an English PCM 5.1 uncompressed (48kHz/24-bit) soundtrack making full use of the speakers and spread nicely so that the sound seems to hover rather than hang close to the source. Gunshots almost seem to ricochet, the sound is so crisp and precise. It's an exceptional soundtrack that nicely modulates the volume so that the action scenes aren't so overpowering that you need to turn it down a notch, and the quiet dialogue scenes aren't so whispery that you need to crank it up. No other language options, though--just an English Dolby Digital 5.1 compressed track, with subtitles in English SDH, French, and Spanish.
Extras:
For a film this "big," unfortunately, there's not a lot here. A 26-minute making-of feature that's pretty basic, and two mini-features in the eight-minute range are the only extras, and they're really run-of-the-mill. They're most useful for isolating clips that zero in on what McCarthy and the Coens were trying to say, and most interesting when we learn how much harder it is to handle production design for a "period" film set just 25 years ago. And I have to admit that I took some delight in hearing Scottish actress Kelly Macdonald's natural thick accent juxtaposed against clips of her sounding Texas-tough.
Bottom Line:
"No Country for Old Men" is so beautifully filmed that it seems poetic, and that makes the violence even more intense. This is no country for anyone, not just aging lawmen. Bardem got the statue, but it was Tommy Lee Jones who had me admiring his every move and phrase. The man sure knows how to bring a Texas sheriff to life.
Video:
These days it's hard to tell what's player and what's disc-related, but my copy of "No Country for Old Men" had some compression squiggles around the 13-minute mark that lasted for about 15 seconds, and then the film was fine again. The 1080p picture looks great, though, with colors saturated just enough to look natural for the arid Texas landscape. The black levels appear strong, the picture is super-sharp, and there's a very nice amount of detail, even on the edges with bright colors such as red and orange.
Audio:
The audio is also strong, with an English PCM 5.1 uncompressed (48kHz/24-bit) soundtrack making full use of the speakers and spread nicely so that the sound seems to hover rather than hang close to the source. Gunshots almost seem to ricochet, the sound is so crisp and precise. It's an exceptional soundtrack that nicely modulates the volume so that the action scenes aren't so overpowering that you need to turn it down a notch, and the quiet dialogue scenes aren't so whispery that you need to crank it up. No other language options, though--just an English Dolby Digital 5.1 compressed track, with subtitles in English SDH, French, and Spanish.
Extras:
For a film this "big," unfortunately, there's not a lot here. A 26-minute making-of feature that's pretty basic, and two mini-features in the eight-minute range are the only extras, and they're really run-of-the-mill. They're most useful for isolating clips that zero in on what McCarthy and the Coens were trying to say, and most interesting when we learn how much harder it is to handle production design for a "period" film set just 25 years ago. And I have to admit that I took some delight in hearing Scottish actress Kelly Macdonald's natural thick accent juxtaposed against clips of her sounding Texas-tough.
Bottom Line:
"No Country for Old Men" is so beautifully filmed that it seems poetic, and that makes the violence even more intense. This is no country for anyone, not just aging lawmen. Bardem got the statue, but it was Tommy Lee Jones who had me admiring his every move and phrase. The man sure knows how to bring a Texas sheriff to life.
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]23041[/release]