No Country for Old Men

[AlamoShooter]

Respond to Boo Radley previous post

Maybe Or maybe not , maybe Chigurh was in the other room? after seeing in vent pipe that the bag had been pushed out of reach from the first room like before.

Maybe the fathers is head is down against the cold. And no mater if Bell felt like he could have don better, his Father will still prepare the way. ?Doesn't Bell say that his father will have a fire ready?

Yes the cosmic Joke is great I didn't want to spoil it for all though. But Bell has no idea what happened to Chigurh ? does He?

Thats cool that you got so much out of it.

The story is good, I think it could be both ways, or both of us are wrong

JF

Edited December 5, 2007 by AlamoShooter

[Catfish]

This is why I thought the movie was pretty good. Look at the different opinions on what the ending of the movie meant....

Like I said before, for a Hollywierd that is usually 100% predictable, for you to leave the movie going is a good thing in my opinion. Look how much thought has gone into it after watching the flick...

Not bad, not bad at all.

[Chills1994]

WARNING: Possible spoilers ahead!

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In that last hotel scene, I think Chigurh was still in the room and probably behind the door when TLJ (the sheriff) walked in. I suppose he could have been next door. Ah, heck, I don't know.

The money case could NOT have been pushed into an adjacent room because it had a "boot" on it where it choked down to a much smaller diameter round pipe.

Heck, I don't even know if the money was behind the vent's grill. That space looked too small to me. Besides, I am thinking the Mexicans got it when they came in guns ablazing and left that lady dead in the swimming pool.

It could have been that Chigurh was just there looking for the money (the lock was popped out) and went directly to the vent first.

(slight thread drift)

At that gas station where Chigurh flips that coin, he says the year on the coin was 1958 and that it has been traveling around for 22 years. So 1958 plus 22 = 1980.

I kept wondering what year the movie was set in. I kept seeing all these old cars and the clothes people were wearing. Then all the references to Vietnam.

And then all of the rotary dial phones.

Then there was Chigurh's bowl cut.

Why is it that the bad guys always have dark circles around their eyes?

I guess it kinda threw me off at the opening scene where Llewyn Moss (Josh Brolin) is hunting antelope with a laminated stocked bolt gun and has target type turrets on his scope. I thought it was set at least in the 1990's.

A supressed semi-automatic Remington 1100? Huh? I guess it's possible, if it was a threaded on affair, you would have to come up with some sort of choke tube adapter, I would think. The muzzle is too thin, I think, to have both inside threads for the choke tubes, and outside threads for the suppressor.

I guess the advantage then is you don't leave any ballistic evidence behind like you would with a rifled bullet. You'd still be spitting out shells, and probably imprinting the brass with the breehface tooling and extractor marks.

At the car crash scene, I still didn't know for sure if Josh Brolin was dead, so I was expecting him to hop out of the other vehicle and then unload on Chigurh.

I might have to go see this one again. Or at least rent it on DVD.

[boo radley]

My wife was convinced Chigurh was in the *other* motel room, since both locks had been shot out. I disagreed, though.

I think the Chigurh went into both rooms this time - his wasn't going to be tricked again, took the money and left. BTW, this scene was NOT in the book; otherwise the movie was almost 100% faithful to the novel.

Here's a comment that I found on the web, and think I agree with it completely:

" The scene is immediately preceded by a discussion with the local sheriff about Chigurh returning to the crime scene at the Eagle Hotel earlier. Bell has a gut feeling and lawman's instinct and fear that Chigurh went back to the hotel where Moss was killed. He approaches the door, sees the lock cylinder blown out, knows Chigurh has been/is there, and imagines him behind the door. It doesn't matter that Bell does not know what Chigurh looks like, this image in Bell's mind could not be conveyed on screen without invoking the image of Chigurh behind the door. Bell stands in front of the door frozen with fear and anticipation of what might lurk behind it, and wondering if he has the courage to proceed with the confrontation. He sees only his own reflection in the lock, but may imagine others. The film makes it clear that Chigurh is NOT in the room, as Bell swings the door wide open and it is flush with the side wall (no room for hiding). Chigurh has clearly been there and left, but NOT through the locked bathroom window. He left out the front door with the money and vanished.

There is no elegy or selling of the sheriff's soul. There is no sequel. The story was completely told in this masterpiece, and nothing needs to be added. Chigurh lives on, but the Coens are not making a Halloween series with him as the serial killer.

The subsequent final scenes are to give us perspective on Bell and what could be described as the "message" of the film. His world has changed for what he perceives is worse. It has, but bad [stuff] has happened to people through all of time. Not all is fair. Good people are not necessarily rewarded, and bad people are not necessarily punished. In fact, the opposite often is true. There is no sense of just accounting in life. Bell feels unable to continue to fight a war he cannot win, and the truth is that he and no one else ever could. We take what life gives us and hope that we are lucky enough to avoid the random tragedies that befall others.

This is an existential drama that throws the usual Hollywood formulas in our faces. It is not made to uplift, but to provoke. I loved this film."

I think the reflection of Chigurh, too, is important if you think back to when Bell and his deputy enter Moss's trailer. They just missed Chigurh, and Bell sits on the couch and stares at his reflection on the empty TV screen, thinking (presumably) about the killer who had been sitting in the same spot. Bell, this early in the film, doesn't yet understand what he's facing, and is still cracking jokes. At the motel room, he's now close enough to the evil to SEE (or imagine he sees) Chigurh's reflection.

And this is the end for Bell. He's further destroyed when he visits his old crippled uncle, with feelings of guilt ("God must be disappointed in me...."), and is told, basically -- "tough sh*t. You don't know WHAT God thinks of you, and btw, there have always been evil men and actions in this country...."

Still, I can see Alamo's point, too, that its possible to interpret the final dream as optimistic. Does it provide hope? Or is it merely a fantasy that Bell longs for, but then "he wakes up?"

Of course I could be completely full of sh*t, too.

It *is* interesting that it was set in 1980. Possibly because this was the starting era (more or less) of the true bad-asses involved in coke smuggling from Mexico -- a new wave of evil? Dunno. Good film.

[benos]

Thanks for that post boo. This:

The scene is immediately preceded by a discussion with the local sheriff about Chigurh returning to the crime scene at the Eagle Hotel earlier. Bell has a gut feeling and lawman's instinct and fear that Chigurh went back to the hotel where Moss was killed. He approaches the door, sees the lock cylinder blown out, knows Chigurh has been/is there, and imagines him behind the door. It doesn't matter that Bell does not know what Chigurh looks like, this image in Bell's mind could not be conveyed on screen without invoking the image of Chigurh behind the door. Bell stands in front of the door frozen with fear and anticipation of what might lurk behind it, and wondering if he has the courage to proceed with the confrontation. He sees only his own reflection in the lock, but may imagine others. The film makes it clear that Chigurh is NOT in the room, as Bell swings the door wide open and it is flush with the side wall (no room for hiding). Chigurh has clearly been there and left, but NOT through the locked bathroom window. He left out the front door with the money and vanished.

... Makes more sense

than anything I'd come up with so far. (Just saw it last night.)

I loved the movie - what a brilliant piece of work. My daughter and her mother saw it about a week ago, and they've been talking about it every day since. (I'd hear them whispering in a part of the house where I couldn't hear them.) So they were so excited today, after I told them I saw it - so we could all talk about it together.

It is definitely the most thought-provoking film I've seen since Donnie Darko.

[AlamoShooter]

I think Boo is rite. about Chigure in the hotel. On the movie take of the story, I think that is the only place the movie strayed from the book. Not that that was bad. The movie is set in the same time as the book has it set. I think they did that because of the Hunter two other characters in the story being V.N. war veterans.

Its been a 18 month past the "read'"/ listen on the book = Bell does go back to the room and it says he does Not see X truck in the parking area. He inters the room facing the Unknown. When he leave he does Not notice that X truck is gone. in the book you are left to wonder if Chigur was in the truck.

If I remember rite, but I'm Very good at remembering thing that are of little value.

I drive my wife crazy cuz= If I see 2 seconds of a movie that I saw years past = I can tell you what just happened and what is about to happen. cant tell you anyones name but I have the video in my head... along with the voices

Edited December 7, 2007 by AlamoShooter

[benos]

Bell does go back to the room and it says he does NOT see X truck in the parking area. He inters the room facing the Unknown. When he leave he does not notice that X truck is gone. in the book you are left to wonder if Chigur was in the truck.

I uppercased your "not" in the first sentence - is it supposed to be there? He does NOT see the truck when he goes there, and when he leaves he does NOT notice that the truck is gone?

be

[3quartertime]

I'm still not sure I have enough of an idea to comment.

More people go see this so I can read more opinions!!!

:D

[AlamoShooter]

Bell does go back to the room and it says he does NOT see X truck in the parking area. He inters the room facing the Unknown. When he leave he does not notice that X truck is gone. in the book you are left to wonder if Chigur was in the truck.

I uppercased your "not" in the first sentence - is it supposed to be there? He does NOT see the truck when he goes there, and when he leaves he does NOT notice that the truck is gone?

be

Wow I write so bad I don't understand a question about my writing

Or yes = when Bell goes back to the Hotel he does Not see the "truck" parked to a side area. And when Bell drives away he does Not notice that the "truck" is gone. As the reader of the book you don't know who was in the truck. But you are full of fear that Bell will get the air Hose.

I don't remember Bell being to concerned for his own safety in the book.

I may need to get it out for the next road trip. That part in the book I had driven about 1,100 miles starting at 4am I think we were just getting to the mountains west of San Diego I had to play that part back three times for my buddy as he could not accept that the hunter got killed. He kept thinking the story was about the $$$.

Edited December 7, 2007 by AlamoShooter

[lynn jones]

all i know is that, if your run across a drug deal gone bad, take the money and leave. later check for homing beacon, or in today's terms a gps transponder. defininatly don't go back for the drugs. wtf were you thinking?

lynn

[AlamoShooter]

all i know is that, if your run across a drug deal gone bad, take the money and leave. later check for homing beacon, or in today's terms a gps transponder. defininatly don't go back for the drugs. wtf were you thinking?

lynn

Ok you found the one place that movie let us short, The hunter did not go back for the drugs. He did take the water back for the only witness to him being at the site. He figured if the guy was still alive the bag guys would get him to talk.

If I remember rite in the book he has no idea why he packed water in to " Finish things"

The book does a great job of making you care about the hunter =Luelen and touches some on his escapes in Viet Nam

[Chills1994]

You all did catch that Luellen Moss (Josh Brolin) couldn't read?

I wonder if they played that up in the book at all.

I couldn't quite figure out why Woody Harrelson's character was interrogating him about his welding skills. It's not like Woody was interviewing him for a job, or was going to try to set him up with one once he handed over the money.

I have to wonder if Moss handed the money over to Woody if Woody would have killed him then.

[boo radley]

Moss's conscience begins to bother him, and he returns to the desert to give the gut-shot Mexican water. (Remember how he pleaded for "agua?"). I think it was his (Moss's) way of making things "OK" for taking the money.

Chills -- where did you pick up that Moss couldn't read? I didn't notice that.

As far as with Woody -- I think he was teasing Moss about welding to underscore the point that Moss *had* the skills for honest work, and had no business abandoning them for greed....

Interesting question if Woody still would have killed Moss. I think so. I do not think Chigurh would have killed Carla Jean, however, had Moss sacrificed himself. Of course this makes her death scene all the more tragic, and you realize how truly evil Chigurh is, when he tells her -- "Hey! Your husband had a choice..."

Something someone else pointed out -- the children/youth in the movie aren't inspiring, either. In two cases they provide the shirt off their back, literally, to someone in need, but only out of greed, and for money.

[Jman]

Saw it 2 weeks ago. Will see this one again, no question. My initial thought was that Chigurh was hiding from Bell at the motel. Not that he feared the Sheriff but he valued the 2 million $ he finally got his hands on to risk it. I'm picking up the book first then seeing the film again. This makes me crazy.

Jim M

[benos]

Thanks Jamie - now I folla.

be

[3quartertime]

Thanks Jamie - now I folla.

be

"folla" what?

I hate it when people are starting to get something and I'm still lost!!!

I really thought he was just being nice taking the water back too...

Totally cool how his character couldn't sleep when he had something he had to do...

When this movie ended I would have sworn I wouldn't care to watch it again. Now I'm 100% sure I'll watch it again!!!

[Chills1994]

boo radley wrote:

Chills -- where did you pick up that Moss couldn't read? I didn't notice that.

At least once during the movie, when he was trying to check into a hotel/motel (NO-tell?), the lady handed him the sheet with the room descriptions, number of beds, sizes of beds, and Moss looked at it, kinda scanned it over, paused for a minute, the lady said "Well, pick out which room you want." And Moss replied with "Umm... it's just me by myself, so I just need one bed."

I'm kinda paraphrasing there.

Which now that I think of it, if he is such a good welder, in Texas, with all of the oil wells and/or pipelines why wasn't he working?

I'm just speculating that if you get up to a certain level of proficiency at welding and want to do more technical work, you're going to have to be able to read blue prints. I'm sure he could figure out what the drawings meant, but with all of the other technical information typed up in a set of plans, he wouldn't have been able to read it.

But hey, I'm just speculating... and I'm way too wrapped up into the psyche of Moss's character now.

Jeeeshhh

[AlamoShooter]

Chills ...Dude He was looking at the lay-out of the hotel for tactics. = that was how he knew to push the bag way deep in the vent pipe.

And He was taking a day to go hunting and stumbled on to the death site.

Edited December 8, 2007 by AlamoShooter

[shred]

FYI in one of the latest forum upgrades a [ spoiler ] tag was introduced

It works like so:

Rosebud is a sled

Click and drag the mouse across the black part to see what it says.

[chuckbradley]

The hunter did come back and look at a diagram but when first presented the room list it was apparent he could not read it.

Woody was trying to show him there was no way he could keep the money and get away with it. That he learned everything about him in 3 hours and there was no way to hide.

I just watched this yesterday. Not much of a crowd since it was getting old. There were about 30 people in the theater. At the end there was silence for about 10 seconds then some laughter at the ending. I too felt ripped off, left wanting a better conclusion. But after thinking about it on the way home I thought it was a great movie and started to see the intention of the ending and the title. The Sheriff was old and worn, it was no country for him, an old man, any longer. Think back to his comment, " I am outmatched". Then he is seen retired and talking of the dream. I thought it was meaning his Father had moved on in death and was there making a fire for him when he came to join him after finishing his journey.

I will definitely see this again and think about it again. I really enjoyed reading all the other ideas here. I suppose it only reflects how good this movie is. Its definitely not one that gives you a good feeling afterwards.

Edited December 9, 2007 by chuckbradley

[AlamoShooter]

Yep Chuck . My dad says getting old is not for wimps.

[markm]

Alright, now I'm going to see it again, get there on time , and not have any bathroom breaks.

[bwit]

I'm still not sure I have enough of an idea to comment.

More people go see this so I can read more opinions!!!

:D

OK

[No.343]

Having recently retired with from the military the sherrif's thoughts kinds resonated with some of the self-inspection I've done recently. However, I had the impression that the crippled uncle was housebound and probably had few visitors. That meant to me that the only way that he knew about the upcoming retirement would have been from the sheriff's wife's letters. I thought that meant that the decision for retirement had been made before the incident started. Am I completely wrong on this one?

[jasmap]

I went to see this last night. I'm very glad I did. GREAT movie and even though I was suprised and left wondering about the ending, I loved it and I will see this one again.