No Country for Old Men's Consequences

This is going to seem like more of a rant as opposed to an actual review, but some things happened to me the other day that got me thinking about consequences and the choices we make. How consequences, big or small can change the course of your life, your year... and quite simply, your day. I won't bore you with details of what happened to me, but let's just say it's amazing the amount that can happen after making one simple decision... good or bad. After asking one question and choosing how to answer it. Hell, after one sentence.

Just when you thought the Coen Brothers couldn't possibly get any better they smack you in the face with, No Country for Old Men. Literally, for me it was as if my face connected with one of Mike Tyson's famous knockout hooks. I had been following this film since it premiered at Cannes last year and have been waiting anxiously to see it. Well, let me just tell you it does not disappoint. I know, I know a lot of people have been criticizing the way it ended. But seriously, how else could it have ended? The whole point of the film is what ensues after the choices one makes. Were we all rooting for Josh Brolin? Yes. But did he not make quite an unethical choice once out in the desert? Of course it was a bad choice to take, excuse me, steal the money. Did he steal it from a bunch of drug runners? Yes. But it's still stealing and Josh Brolin's character has to deal with the consequences of his actions. The thing the fucking sucks for old Joshy boy is that the consequences of his actions just so happen to be the very bad-ass that is Javier Bordem. Fuck me! Is that not one of the creepiest, yet in some way likable bastards ever put on film? The only person I can think of is Daniel Day Lewis' portrayal of Bill in Gangs of New York. But unlike that film there is seriously no one to root for in this movie, except for... perhaps Josh Brolin's character's wife. I digress. What I really want to keep focusing on are consequences and choices. Josh Brolin's character made the choice to steal the money. He also made the choice to accompany that young lady by the pool in for beers. Woody Harrelson's character made the choice to be a bounty hunter and work for some pretty shady individuals. What's funny however, is that the only two who seem to make, in there own minds, rational choices are Tommy Lee Jones' character and Javier Bordem's character. As sinister and coldhearted as Bodem's character seems, to him they are all rational choices. And to be able to make a film and tell a story where I literally feel the need to write that last sentence takes quite the filmmaker, so well done Joel and Ethan. This film is a study in tension to say the least. And a lesson in what can happen from one little decision. "You can't stop what's coming." Genious!