No Country For Old Men (Coen Brothers)

[Burkex]

Originally Posted by Astrocreep

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Why did Moss not right away take the money and hit vegas or whatever with his wife and start a new life? that transponder never would have led anyone onto him that far away. instead he comes home like finding millions of dollars is nothing new, puts the money away and goes to bed, then later wakes up drives his car to the death scene and gets caught and leaves his truck behind so everyone knows he was the one who most likely took the cash. fucking idiot.

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At first I think Moss thought that after he got the money there was no way anyone would be able to track him and the money and so he thought he was home free. So he did not go to "Vegas or wherever" and did not disappear. He didn't think he needed to. Then I think after he went to bed he realized that the mexican guy in the truck could survive and he could possible ID him. I think he also realized that he left his fingerprints behind on all of the trucks. So I think he went back to get rid of any evidence that he had left behind. I also think he would not have been able to disappear right away with his wife because she would have not left her mom behind especially when she was sick, so they would have had to go to her place first and get her which was also a problem since the mom has such a big mouth and is annoying as hell. Clearly the mom would have told everyone where they were from when they had gotten to where they were going.

So yea Moss went back, and left his truck at the top of the hill for a fast getaway. He also did not want his trucks tracks near all the dead bodies. When he walked back down to check on the Mexican guy he saw the truck by his truch and they slashed his tires so he had to leave his truck behind. BTW this also turned into an amazing scene. The while chase and jump into the river was fantastic especially with the dog swimming after him and he had to dry out the gun super fast and shoot the dog. That was some great stuff.

Either way Moss made some mistakes and so does everyone in these situations. Finding a huge suitcase of money is not as easy as you would think to get away with it. Go read the book or see the movie called A Simple Plan, that is another story about finding 4 million dollars in cash and the complications that it causes.

One last thing I also think that if they had not gotten the Vin # off of his truck they would have been waiting in the Bus depots and airports with the transponder just waiting for it to go off. And you also have to realize that is is a movie if he had just taken the money and gone and disappeared that would not have been as good of a movie.

[Astrocreep]

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I dunno why he went back, maybe it was to remove potential evidence that he had been there, or maybe he was greedy and wanted all the dugs too. he knew what he was doing was dangerous, yet did it anyway. Not for nothing but it was stupid of him to go back there in pitch black darkness.

It also was pretty stupid to hang around in texas once he knew for sure that he was being pursued. ya know, 2 or 3 million dollars cash can buy you a good used car and enough gas to take you damned near anywhere on the continent.

One last thing I also think that if they had not gotten the Vin # off of his truck they would have been waiting in the Bus depots and airports with the transponder just waiting for it to go off. And you also have to realize that is is a movie if he had just taken the money and gone and disappeared that would not have been as good of a movie.

You're right and im not dismissing the movie completely, i liked it fine. it just had a lot of cryptic shit thrown in the last 30 minutes on top of finishing with a unsatisfactory ending and i usually like unhappy movie endings.

[Kiksar]

!@!@11231321!!!!!!!@!

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Burkex, having liked it as much as you did you still seem to be misinterpreting or missing large parts of the movie's intentions. Debate Moss' practical reasoning for going back all you want, but the obvious moral undertone was the guy asking him for agua and him not being able to sleep then taking a gallon of water and heading directly for that truck. The movie is loaded with portraying each character's morality and beliefs through how they dealt with situations. A great example, and one of the better character moments in the movie is when Llewellyn's wife sits down with Chigurh in the room before she's killed. Chigurh says that Llewellyn tried to use her to save his own life and she tells him that it didn't happen like that, then proceeds to refuse to call the coin toss even though she more or less knows it could save her. Being the one person who stood up to Chigurh face to face in the movie makes his exit through the front door, checking his shoes for blood and revealing what the audience thinks but maybe isn't sure of until that moment much more powerful. The entire movie relies heavily on this type of character action or dialog to describe each character's take on life.

Also, I'm a fan of good music but is it really that hard to figure out why they made the decision to keep the movie score-free? Any music treatment would have altered the mood of what was presented, I don't understand why some people can't appreciate silence and natural ambience as the most effective solution in some cases.

[Burkex]

Originally Posted by Kiksar

!@!@11231321!!!!!!!@!

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Burkex, having liked it as much as you did you still seem to be misinterpreting or missing large parts of the movie's intentions. Debate Moss' practical reasoning for going back all you want, but the obvious moral undertone was the guy asking him for agua and him not being able to sleep then taking a gallon of water and heading directly for that truck. The movie is loaded with portraying each character's morality and beliefs through how they deal with situations. A great example, and one of the better character moments in the movie is when Llewellyn's wife sits down with Chigurh in the room before she's killed. Chigurh says that Llewellyn tried to use her to save his own life and she tells him that it didn't happen like that, then proceeds to refuse to call the coin toss even though she more or less knows it could save her. Being the one person who stood up to Chigurh face to face in the movie makes his exit through the front door, checking his shoes for blood and revealing what the audience thinks but maybe isn't sure of until that moment much more powerful. The entire movie relies heavily on this type of character action or dialog to describe each character's take on life.

Also, I'm a fan of good music but is it really that hard to figure out why they made the decision to keep the movie score-free? Any music treatment would have altered the mood of what was presented, I don't understand why some people can't appreciate silence and natural ambience as the most effective solution in some cases.

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Good point with the moral dilemmas. I saw it throughout the movie I just didn't see it as a reason why he went back but that does make sense4 to me.

I loved the no soundtrack it added to the mood and the quiet and calm of the landscape. This was more of an intelligent movie not some movie that has a soundtrack and you can be completely brainless to enjoy, if you want that go watch a Michael bay film. Complaining that it had no soundtrack is the most laughable thing to me. Who really cares if it did or not? I thought it was way better without it, a soundtrack would have taken away from the movie not added to it.

[Astrocreep]

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I hope you dont think i mean by no soundtrack i mean i wanted to hear songs and shit. i dont mean that, i meant a soundtrack as in a score ya know something almost every major film in history has including silent films, including all the Coen brothers movies i have ever seen. Also, damn i didnt catch that he was lugging that water for the parched mexican, that pretty much decides why he went back. though i still wouldnt have returned to that scene and certainly not in total darkness. i likely woulda called it in to the cops soon as i saw what happened maybe anonymously so as people wouldnt think i took the cash.

[eVasiege]

Originally Posted by Kiksar

Is this a serious question? If this movie doesn't make a decent amount of money and people are throwing questions like this around I'll lose even more faith in humanity having any idea what good ideas are.

Don't get me wrong, I understand what they were trying to accomplish going minimal on the sound, however for me music is essentially vital to any movie. It doesn't have to be full blown orchestra over dramatizing things like your typical epic, but something simple that conveys mood. It was hard understanding the mood of a situation because in between dialogues and gunshots everything was virtually silent.

For instance, take a look at one of the songs on Babels soundtrack which was used as the mood setter for the desert bus ride. It is very simple, almost drone ambient, yet adds so much to the scene that would otherwise be boring and feel somewhat lifeless. There were just too many of those moments in No Country For Old Men where I was trying to get a feel of the situation beyond actions and words and it just turned out being a bit dry.

Natural ambience is good in some areas bad in others. Personally, I don't think it was good in the sense that the movie took place mostly in an arid desert. In a tropical rainforest, where you have a wide assortment of audio sensations, then ok.

[Jabberwhacky]

Ya, dude, if you can't "understand the mood of a situation" without a soundtrack, you're not human, you're a robot. This then explains your sig; it isn't some Asian tongue-twister, but your secret robot-communique to start the revolution. You almost got away with it, too.

Also, you other two guys are f'ing r-tards for not understanding why he went back. The guy asked for water. Our hero goes back with water. ???

I'm certainly not gonna say I 'understood' the ending; but taking water to a guy in the desert? Really?

[Jedah]

Finally saw this tonight, enjoyed it quite a bit:

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Ebert nailed it in his review when he noted: "the movie demonstrates how pitiful ordinary human feelings are in the face of implacable injustice" which is really the essence of the Tommy Lee Jones character. Though, the contrast between Carla Jean's final words and the car accident that followed is going to take some time for me to sort out

[Vehn]

some lady just had to have her cellphone on the whole time, and it rang three times, including the part when

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anton finds moss in the hotel, and moss jumps out of the windows

totally just takes away from the movie when people do that :/

[Burkex]

Yea someone had their cell ring in my movie too and at the fucking beginning of the movie it tells you to turn your cell phones off. These fucking people are complete assholes. Ever hear of the vibrate function? Use it. I would love to see one of these people lynched after the movie.

[Narale]

This was a Cormac McCarthy novel before it became a motion picture. The story is not fucked. It's brilliant for christ fucking sakes. If you cannot connect the dots, or you need a score to tell you how to feel during scenes, then thats your problem.

Its got depth people. It's a magnificent work of art and requires full attention.

[Astrocreep]

This movie dragged in places, when a film drags the score helps set the mood and actually keeps things moving. with no score whatsoever, it just fell dead in some spots and gave you the impression every bit of this movie was serious business and not to be taken lightly.

[Tristinn]

Oh my God this movie is outstanding. It is also over the heads of 3/4ths of the people who saw it.. which is pretty fucking sad, but expected these days.

btw shut up about the score, it was absolutely perfect the way it was.

[The Noble Savage]

Absolutely fantastic. Was surprised when I went in and the only seats open were the front rows, that shocked me a bit.

Chigurh was a scary motherfucker. That entire scene with the gas station clerk...seriously. To me his voice was just so...primal I guess is the word. Low pitch and quiet yet aggressive and his facial expressions were like masks of barely contained violence.

At my viewing their were quite a few comments at the ending i.e. "What the fuck" "What happened" and "That sucked". But whatever, better they spend their money watching this and not understanding it than seeing Hitman or other such trash.

And I disagree wholeheartedly with you Astrocreep. The movie never dragged. I was utterly engrossed throughout. I didn't even notice it's lack of score until the credits popped up, and then people talking about it here.

[Mir]

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Saw it and thought it was good, though I do believe (and this is why I think a lot of folks are pissed off) that it was a bit of a departure from how it was represented in the trailers. The point of the movie wasn’t Llewellyn or crazy air hose guy or the money or the Mexicans.

What I got from the movie was that the whole thriller aspect (the money/drugs plot), was just a parable inside the movie to convey the point Tommy Lee was trying to make throughout via his narrative.

As you get older your ability to keep up with the pace of the evolution of society gets exponentially worse. Crime, violence, etc is just a good example. A literal, not just perceived, negative departure from “the way it was” and your inability to deal with that.

The whole final 20 minutes of the movie with him & his (brother in law? / uncle?) and then with the woman (who I assume is his wife) basically sum that all up.

The movie was about Tommy Lee not Llewellyn.