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No Country for Old Men (2007)

Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Kelly Macdonald, and Josh Brolin.  Cinematography by Roger Deakins. Edited by Roderick Jaynes. Produced Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, and Scott Rudin. Written and Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen.

That is no country for old men. The young
In one another's arms, birds in the trees
- Those dying generations - at their song,
The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas,
Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long
Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.
Caught in that sensual music all neglect
Monuments of unaging intellect.
“Sailing to Byzantium” (1927) by William Butler Yeats

It’s the summer of 1980 in west Texas. Anton Chigurh (played by Javier Bardem) has escaped police custody and is calmly using his captive bolt pistol to lay a path of death and destruction as he makes his getaway. Meanwhile, Vietnam vet Llewelyn Moss (played by Josh Brolin) has stumbled across a drug deal gone wrong while out hunting antelope.

He follows a blood trail leading away from the slaughter and comes across a dead man holding a suitcase containing two million dollars.  He quickly decides to take the money and hide it beneath his trailer. After an evening of internal turmoil Moss resolves to bring water back to the sole survivor of the massacre, but he is intercepted by a new wave of Mexican gangsters and is forced to abandon his truck at the scene. Sheriff Tom Bell (played by Tommy Lee Jones) is called in to investigate and traces Moss’ truck back to his residence.   Chigurh has used the same method to track down the money and the deadly game of cat and mouse begins.

No Country for Old Men was presented to Joel and Ethan Coen by producer Scott Rudin, who had recently acquired the cinematic rights. Written by acclaimed author Cormac McCarthy and released in July of 2005, the bestselling novel was a critical success and, at least in the eyes of Rudin, perfect Coen material.  The Coens, who were actively working on an adaptation of James Dickey’s To the White Sea, quickly agreed to the project and set their current job aside to pursue it.

The story offered itself as an exemplary compliment to the Coen arsenal. Their adaptation was meticulously faithful to the source material as they explored familiar themes of human struggle, fruitless honor, and remorseless violence. Using the works of Sam Peckinpah as a visual springboard, the Coens were able to flawlessly recreate the ever-changing American “wild” west and still hang on to their trademark offbeat dark comedy. No Country for Old Men proved itself to be the ideal and logical evolution to films like Blood Simple, Miller’s Crossing, and Fargo.

No Country for Old Men premiered in the Cannes Film Festival on May 19, 2007 and then saw a limited twenty eight theater release later that year.  On November 21^st, the film opened wide and, riding the momentum of its award ceremony buzz, went on to gross almost seventy five million dollars domestically, which easily made it the highest grossing Coen brothers film to date.

Budget: $25,000,000

Total US Gross: $74,273,505

Genre: Thriller

Runtime: 122 Minutes

US Release Date: 11/21/07

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Awards:

Academy Awards: 
Won for best supporting actor, screenplay based on previously published material, director(s), and picture. 
Nominated for best cinematography, editing, sound, and sound editing.

Golden Globes: 
Won for best supporting actor and best screenplay.
Nominated for best director(s) and best dramatic picture. 

Cannes Film Festival: 
Nominated for the Golden Palm.

Directors Guild of America: 
Won for the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures. 

Writers Guild of America: 
Won for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Tagline: There Are No Clean Getaways

Quote: “What's the most you ever lost on a coin toss?”

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