No Country For Old Men

Ethan and Joel Coen, 2007 (9.0*)
Best Picture (AA)
Many consider this riveting crime drama to be the best film yet from the Coen Brothers, Ethan and Joel. It certainly won the most awards, most going to the supporting performance of Javier Bardem, who created the 'bounty hunter from hell' in this, who leaves a trail of bodies in his wake. He is such a callous character, often making victims call a coin toss for their lives, that he became an immediate cult icon.

The film begins with Josh Brolin out hunting, and stumbling onto a group of trucks, bodies, and an apparent drug deal gone horribly wrong. This sets a chain of events in motion that baffles veteran sheriff Tommy Lee Jones, a worthy Oscar®-nominee for this himself.

It's almost as if an ill wind is blowing out of the prairie that no one can control; they can only follow it around but they can't stop it from blowing on everyone in its path. A hard film to pigeon-hole, it seems to be the perfect Texas crime story, and neo-noir for the new millenium.

Winner of Oscars® for picture, director, adapted screenplay (taken from the novel by Cormac McCarthy) as well as Bardem's (photo rt) supporting Oscar®. Accepting the award, Bardem said "worst haircut ever on film". Overall it won 94 awards, 20 of those for Bardem, out of 140 nominations, making it perhaps the most critically successful film of the decade.

Currently #119 on the IMDB Top 250