No Country For Old Men - Slow and steady wins the race

I normally hate slow films.  If I say that a film is ‘slow’ then I normally mean that I’m completely bored with it.  Or, if it’s deliberately slow then it’s probably just being pretentious with ideas above its station. ‘No Country For Old Men’ is slow.  And I really enjoyed it.

It’s a little hard to describe.  I guess the basic plot is that Josh Brolin finds a suitcase of money in the middle of a drug deal gone wrong and decides to keep it.  The only problem is that there’s a complete psychopath on his trail who will stop at nothing to recover what is his (think ‘The Terminator’ but with a worse haircut).  Tommy Lee Jones plays the local Sherriff on both their trails and, using the Terminator analogy, it’s just a question of which one gets to Brolin first.

It’s quite a long film with minimal dialogue.  A lot of the time you’re just watching the character as he goes about his (ill-gotten) business.  When there is dialogue it’s that kind of ‘Tarantino-esque’ rambling monologue which makes you wonder where it’s going and is supposed to heighten the tension and show us important information regarding the character talking.  This can sometimes get annoying, but, again, it works here.

Yes, it’s slow, but it’s brilliant (and nasty).  Be prepared for some pretty grim and dark moments thrown in there and it certainly isn’t a ‘feel good’ epic, but if you’re in the mood for something a little less ‘action-packed’ than your average Hollywood blockbuster (and a lot nastier) then definitely give this one a go.  It won’t be for everyone and your current mood will probably dictate how you feel towards it afterwards.

8/10 The Force is definitely strong with this one