Morality Tale Of Loose Ends

No Country for Old Men (2007) | Review

Jacob Sahms

No Country For Old Men finds itself re-released on DVD this April, with tons of special features added on; but the plot is still the kicker in this violent parable of life, love, greed, and truth. A battle between Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) and bounty hunter/hitman Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) wages across the southwest, while Josh Brolin's Llewelyn Moss has thrown himself haphazardly in the middle. If you don't know by now, Moss finds two million dollars in drug money... and runs, with batches of killers on his tail. His only hope is that Bell can stop Chigurh before he finds Moss.


Mixed up in this whole bit are Moss' wife (Kelly MacDonald), another bounty hunter (Woody Harrelson), and the mysterious man behind all the money and killing (Stephen Root). The plot and the set-up are beautiful, as are the lushness of character and background. Well, maybe not beautiful, but the sense of the film is rich and full, unlike some of the other films we waste our time on. Still, this is a morality tale, where everyone's morality is in question, where no man or woman is left untouched by the stink of the drug money or the wrath of Chigurh. Every move has consequences and every sin leads to death.


That's really what this movie is about: choices. Moss chooses to steal the money, chooses to run away with it, and chooses a path that leads to his own death and that of his wife. Chigurh forces his victims to choose the side of the coin that they want to represent them and chooses to follow the orders of his secretive boss while inflicting death and judgment on all who cross him. Bell chooses to take up the gun and the badge and protect the citizens of his town even while knowing that death faces him at every turn.


Watching the film again, I'm left with Chigurh as the angel of death or some demon who gives people the opportunity to choose their fate based on their sins, even while some people probably measure up as innocents. On the other hand, there's the wise old Ellis who seems to have a vision from beyond, who knows that we can't control everything about our lives; and Bell serves as the disciple who can't quite follow through... is he a Christ figure who gets tired of carrying the cross? All we know is that multiple characters try to "wait for what's coming" and end up in pine boxes.


And there I'll leave it, as confusing as the novel or the movie, for your consideration. It's a morality tale, but what's the lesson?


Go figure.