Everybody took the money. Taxi driver, desk clerk at the hotel, the dudes at the border, the mariachi band, heck even the kids after the accident. They all knew they were being offered the money to cover for shady or criminal business and they still took the money.
It's a captive bolt stunner. This device, also known as a cattle gun or stun gun, is typically used for humanely killing livestock. (Copied and pasted because I'm being lazy this morning.)
Yeah, it's used to knock cattle out so that they are still and don't thrash about when they are killed by having their own throats slit. This is performed in a slaughter house or a meat packing plant (also called a locker) this is the process for getting steaks
The sheriff is just used to it all. He’s not corrupt at all. He was pissed that the guy delivering bodies didn’t secure them well so people could see them and they could fall off.
I used to manage a theater and would sneak in as much as I could to watch parts of this movie, I would just stare at the screen….I didn’t even feel myself breathing at times, absolutely love it
My personal take on this movie is that it's really about fate versus choice. Chigurh represents fate, Llewellyn represents choice and Sheriff Bell represents the middle point of a man who believes in justice and the rules of society. All of them find themselves tested in their perspective of the world in their own way. The most interesting of those to me is Chigurh because it's my belief that he genuinely felt he was being guided by some higher power in his role as a hired killer. When Carla-Jean refused to call his coin toss, it essentially upended his entire belief system because it meant he had to take responsibility for killing her himself. I believe this is why he gets hit by a car at the end: either he was so rattled by having his beliefs challenged that he had lost his killer instinct... Or he actually WAS being protected by some higher power who revoked said protection when he chose not to follow their divine rule of obeying the coin toss. The Coens cleverly leave it ambiguous as to which really happened.
Lobos is Spanish for wolves. They explain Anton Chigur’s weapon briefly when the sheriff is thinking about it, he says they have things that they kill cattle with that shoots a metal rod in and pulls it back out. So it’s not nails, it shoots a metal rod in their head with air pressure and pulls it back in in an instant.
In the realm of perfect villains, for me, it’s between him and Gary Oldman in Leon, The Professional. Absolutely superb characters and world-class actors.
Interesting note: Woody Harrelson plays a hitman. His father was an actual hitman. Sr. murdered the first federal judge assassinated in the 20th century. I read that he killed at least one more judge and that he MAY have been involved in the JFK assassination.
@@johnjohnmcclane1818 He actually is a hitman in the book, among other duties. They don't really elaborate on it in the movie, though. It's implied that he's a kind of all-purposes bagman who is being tasked with retrieving the cash. It's just that doing this will more than likely involve him having to deal with Chigurh in one form or another.
Charles Harrelson was a mechanic in Dallas, a pleasant handsome man. Ironically, he was also a gun-for-hire. He only used a rifle to carry out his jobs even at close range. He was arrested for the only killing he didn't commit, by his own account, and was definitely there the day Kennedy was assassinated.
Yeah, this movie goes way deeper. I think Anton is the personification of "you can't stip what's coming," ...this impending doom that will cross everyone's path. His accident shows regardless of your choice, your luck of chance, your control over anything, the same fate is coming for all of us, inevitably.
The old sheriff is the main character and the movie is about his struggle with accepting how the world is changing. Also there is no soundtrack at all, they relied mainly on sound effects and suspense. Genius.
The motivation of Anton is clear: the perception of power, and freedom. He is the ultimate expression of this, since most people's freedom comes at the cost of what the group needs/wants. He doesnt care about that, so he is able to do what he wants violently, which he percieves as freedom, which gives him power. How would you explain to him that he's wrong for doing these things, when you and everyone else keeps failing to stop him? But if you dont believe me, see how the sherif talks about his dream, about his father. How his father will wander up the path to light his way into the future. See, thats the problem with Anton. Not only can he not see what the rest of us offer, but I think the creator of the movie/story was also saying he will never see the true point and potential of power, which is not always freedom, but love for another person. If you have ever found real love in your life, you know like the rest of us that it isnt always about power and freedom, which unbinds us away from the cycle of violence and allows us to choose other things in our lives. Anton will continue to kill, not because he is powerful and free, but because he is a slave to himself.
I appreciate your comment and perspective, but I feel like they didn’t give him any motivation. He needs none. He is a force of nature. He is like life, like the universe, he is ambivalent and needs no motivation. He does not set out to be cruel, he has no axe to grind, he just does what he does. And I think the sheriff and his journey of discovery and realization is a representation of this; that life makes no sense, and you’ll be left in the cold and the dark with nobody to light your way.
@butkusfan23 if that's the case and he really doesn't care, then why make it a point to spare them with the coin toss? Hes asserting his power over them. But hay you're cool to see it the way you do, even though you aren't incorporating his emotions in this. And I didn't say his motivation is cruelty, just his perception of power and freedom.
Some explanations: When Llewelyn took a cab back to his motel room, he saw that the curtains weren't as he had left them. He figured (correctly) that someone was waiting for him there. It was the Mexican cartel. That's why he rented the room behind it, so he could get the money out through the air ducts. When Chigurh tracked the money to that same motel room, he rented the room next to it and studied its layout to plan his attack. When he burst into Llewelyn's room he killed all the Mexican cartel members who were there waiting for Llewelyn. But Llewelyn was able to get the money and leave before Chigurh figured out where it was. When Carla Jean and her mother went to El Paso, one of the Mexican cartel members got the mom to tell him where they were going. They killed Llewelyn and some other people when they found him there. The beer lady was just a bystander. One of the things that makes Chigurh terrifying is that he thinks he's carrying out fate, or at least tells that to himself (and others) to explain his behavior. Because of that, you can't reason with him. But in the end, even Chigurh is subject to the same random chance as everyone else. If I came across a drug deal gone wrong with dead bodies all over the place, I'd run like hell and hope no one saw me. I wouldn't look for money, and if I saw any, I wouldn't take it. I'd call the police from some other location. I like money, but I like being alive even more.
I'll add one thing, the Mexican cartel left the motel room after killing Llewellyn without finding the money. Chigur is the one who retrieved the money after the cops left. When the Sheriff went back and saw the lock busted he knew that Chigur had been there and there was a change he could still be there.
I never understood how the Mexican and Chigurh tracked Llewelyn to that first motel room. The money and the tracker were pretty much in between the two motel rooms Llewelyn rented. How did they both focussed on the first room Llewelyn rented?
One of the best movies of the last 20 years. No musical score for this movie. Doesn't need it. Insanely atmospheric without music. Not a nail gun. It's a 'slaughterhouse gun'. Kills cattle & sheep. The shorter barrel give a wider spread of shot, and the gun's easier to conceal in a tote bag or under a coat. Brilliant.
This story takes place around 1980. Things were simpler then. At the time when people were too trusting and just didn't think that people would do this. Even the sherif. It's called No.Country for Old Men because the older you get, times change but you don't change with it.
Well, it’s that the attitudes and beliefs of generations do not change though the times change. The older generation will always feel that the younger generation is capable of more evil than they were. In reality, there has always been evil, it was just in package that young people of the time could understand and accept. That’s the point of Ellis’ story about how their uncle was killed. He was killed in cold blood just the same as the man Chigurh pulled over at the start of the movie. Jack the Ripper brutally took life. Ghengis Khan was ruthless towards women and children. Yet we aren’t as horrified by their acts as we are at today’s young people doing things that, while bad, aren’t worse than those. Evil has always been there. Today’s is just in a form that is shocking to the current generation of old men. As Ellis said after Ed Tom says he feels overmatched, “What you got ain’t nothin’ new.”
That is no country for old men. The young In one another's arms, birds in the trees, -Those dying generations-at their song, The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas, Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long Whatever is begotten, born, and dies. Caught in that sensual music all neglect Monuments of unageing intellect. An aged man is but a paltry thing, A tattered coat upon a stick, unless Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing For every tatter in its mortal dress, Nor is there singing school but studying Monuments of its own magnificence; And therefore I have sailed the seas and come To the holy city of Byzantium. From 'Sailing to Byzantium' William Butler Yeats
@@barrycohen311 Lol! I have studied the literature of many civilizations, and trained ceaselessly in rhetoric, for the express purpose of emotionally disemboweling trolls on the internet...
Llewelyn was the name of the last king of Wales who fought a losing war... It also means lion. Anton's name has the meaning of void symbolically, and mythologically was the son of Hercules who was given the task of killing a lion. Alot of people attribute this film to being nihilistic, but Anton isn't really nihilistic, he's just perfectly adaptable, and pragmatic, and devoid of things that a regular person accumulates living their lives... Even at the end of the movie, after the accident you see him take off a different direction than he was originally headed... In the book he basically isn't given a description, because he is less like a thing that actually exists in the world and more like something that seemingly comes from nowhere fully formed, but not a person in the traditional sense, more like a force of nature, and a force of nature doesn't hate or philosophize.
When Javier Bardem got that haircut, he looked in the mirror and said, "I'm not getting laid for 3 months." XD. If you guys really liked this, check out The Road starring Viggo Mortenson. It's based on another book by the same guy who wrote No Country For Old Men
You touched on something I think is incredibly important for ANY movie watching experience. At around 17 minutes you said “you don’t get it, but you’re just accepting..” That’s Brilliant!! With movies in general, you don’t have to “Get It”, or Understand it, you just have to Accept... that’s it.. While you’re watching, you suspend your disbelief, accept everything you’re being shown, the reflect on it after the experience is complete.. Keep that up!!!
Anton had one mission...recovering the money. Everything else is just annoyance to him. Any resistance from anyone or anything is eliminated. He had his own set of rules, regardless of logic.
It's definitely one you gotta watch twice! A lot of people do miss that Anton and the Mexicans are different. It's funny you mention O Brother Where Art Thou! cause it was made by the same people.
Why did Anton kill the man in the office building who was in a meeting with the accountant? I think that Anton was annoyed that another hitman (Woody Harrelson) was hired to kill him and return the money.
One of the few movies to nail the West Texas accent perfectly. Llewellyn was spot on, the small store owner was perfect, the two lady motel and trailer park owners spot on, Sheriff and his deputy spot on. Woody Harrelson spot on. Carla jean....well, hers was a bit forced and overly done but not bad. The even acted like West Texans. That lady said she can't give out any information and by God, she meant it LOL. The motel lady was not about wasting money and she was going to let him know LOL. And the best, when Carla Jean said Llewellyn would take all comers. They are great people out in West Texas, but when they fight watch out.
Given that Kelly McDonald who played Carla Jean is Scottish with an actual thick Scottish accent (she did the voice for Merida in Pixar's "Brave" and her accent is in full Scots brogue in "Trainspotting") I'd say her Texas accent was pretty damn great.
8:06 Chigur is upset because the gas attendant basically said (by saying "I saw you were from Dallis") that he saw the license plate off his stolen car. He scolds him for not minding his own business. Stressing whether he needs to kill him. Assessing the risk of letting him live, but not gleaning many redemptive qualities. Thus chooses to flip a coin.
Lobo is Spanish for wolf. I don't think Tommy Lee Jones was supposed to be corrupt. He definitely had a lackadaisical approach to law enforcement, probably due to the situation he was in. Llewelyn had a sawed off shotgun. Typically shot guns are sawed off to make them more concealable, but removing part of the barrel also increases the spread of the shells (each of which hold 8-12 bullet size projectiles). The increased spread means that it the gun would be more accurate at close ranges, but ineffective at longer ranges.
I don't think he was lackadaisical toward law enforcement. He doggedly followed the clues that he, more cleverly than others, figured out. I think he was both a stereotypical slow-talking, pragmatic Texas old man, and also tired of the violence and corruption of life. Hence the movie's title. I think he was depressed being a sheriff because he's seen too much. Hence the eminent retirement.
@@goldenageofdinosaurs7192I see. I just thought lackadaisical wasn’t quite right, meaning he doesn’t care, carelessly lazy or sloppy. Perhaps you meant lethargic?
@@aleatharheaNot lethargic either. Just moves slowly and thinks thoroughly. Doesn't talk unless necessary really and has years of experience to guide him, but the crime landscape is changing and he knows he's outmatched.
@@heyheyjk-la I didn't think lethargic; I just thought that might be the word goldenageofdinousaurs7192 was going for instead of lackadaisical. What you're describing is "deliberative" plus that slow-moving Texas casualness, and I agree. It goes with the Texas drawl. Fourth generation Texan here and I can tell Tommy Lee Jones is the real deal, but I feel like he can portray whoever he wants. Damn, he was good in this, wasn't he?
I’m glad y’all saw this as a moral tale. The two most important parts with regard to the morality is when he goes and talks to his older relative with the cats and when he tells his wife his dream. Listen to what the old man with the cats says. This movie is based on a novel by Cormac McCarthy. The Coen brothers did a very good job adapting it. McCarthy wrote three other books about the border called Border Trilogy. They’re all pretty good, but the most intense of the trilogy is Blood Meridian. It takes place before the civil war. It’s not a book for the faint of heart.
TLJ's main struggle in the movie is feeling that today's world is too evil for him to understand. But his cousin Ellis tells him that in reality it's always been as evil as it is now. His dream is a metaphor. He and his dad were living life at the same time (riding together) but eventually his father died and went on ahead of him. At the end of his life, when TLJ meets him again, he will have traveled through the exact same dark and evil world his father did, not one that has been darker and and more evil.
"Lobos" means wolves. He's referring to coyotes. He tells Llewellyn to close the door, fearing that coyotes will smell the blood and eat him alive. "Ripe petunias" refers to the rotting corpses.
This movie (IMO) is about the inevitability of life and death. We may think we have control but ultimately we don't. That's why the last coin flip is such a good scene with one of the best lines. "The coin has no say. It's just you" Chigur is the one who makes that decision, because even accepting the results of the coin flip is his decision.
The cartel is in fact after him, as well as Anton. It would be ignorant to take that money. You would never be able to live any kind of a life and you’re endangering your family. Im not touching that money. Even with no kids it doesn’t matter. My wife comes before my kids to begin with, but I’m not doing anything to endanger them. I have seen this movie so many times, examined it so many times, and the scene that always fascinates me the most is actually when Anton confronts the lady working at the mobile home park Llewelyn lives in. Amazing scene and to me shows a lot about Antons character.
A lot of people posting that "lobo" means "wolf" but think more "coyote." Yes, a coyote is a type of wolf but it's smaller and less aggressive towards humans than a gray wolf, which is more what people tend to think of when they hear "wolf." At one point the deputy asks of the dead bodies at the OK Corral, "How come you reckon the coyotes ain't been at 'em?" and Ed Tom replies "Supposedly, a coyote won't eat a Mexican."
Thanks, Mr. October! Thanks, Mrs. October! 🏜 This modern classic was written/directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen. Everything I've ever seen from the Coen brothers is good. Some are pure comedy. Some are drama mixed with comedy. Some, like this one, are pure drama. I hope you'll watch more of theirs. My personal favorite is RAISING ARIZONA (1987)... very funny, but it has a poignancy that always makes tears well-up in my eyes at the same part... even after all these years.
There are many movies I would put before Nope, even Jordan Peele's other movie 'Get Out'. Did you really think Nope was that good? I mean It wasn't bad, but you would have to be more of a fan of Jordan Peele than the movie itself. Each to their own I guess.
@@gunmetal2890- Yeah, I loved the filmmaking in "Nope" but not the movie itself overall. "Get Out" is still Jordan's best film, but I bet he's got a lot of great ones still coming in the next few years.
"You don't have to do this." "People, always say the same thing." "What do they say?" "They say, 'you don't have to do this.'" Most terrifying thing a person, let alone a psychopath, would say. One my all time favorites.......wonder what that says about me? 🤪 😁
Like Tarantino, the Coen brothers like their films to connect and rhyme with each other. Anton pays 69 cents because the Dude writes a check for that amount in THE BIG LEBOWSKI. Shooting at an animal from a motor vehicle also occurs in RAISING ARIZONA and O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? Commandeering a pickup truck also occurs in RAISING ARIZONA. The Coens also often use subtle religious themes. The “vanity” speech would fit nicely in the Bhagavad Gita. The film’s last line would fit nicely in an autobiography by The Buddha.
One specific thing that happens in a lot in their films that I ALWAYS crack up over is some kind of hilarious mishap with weapons. The shootout at Leo's place in Miller's Crossing where he shoots the one thug so much that the thug shoots wildly at his OWN FEET. When the fire lights up the inside of the police wagon in O Brother and that machine gun goes off by itself at everyone. When Walter jumps out of the car with the Uzi in The Big Lebowski.. you get the picture. The Coens are comedy geniuses, I believe.
Absolutely love this movie and so stoked to see yall checking it out 2:41 "I can see it in the chin" bruh 😂 that got me way harder than it should have 😂 34:52 that's the theme of this movie. No one is the "main character" in this story. It's just a story of something that's happened and events that played out.
Definitely Coen brothers most accomplished film. True Grit from a few years later is great too, their best era. Fargo-1996 to The Big Lebowski-1998 was also an impressive run of form.
All Cohen brothers movies should be watched! Their first movie, which started out as a fake trailer at a film festival, is still their best. Blood Simple!
The 3 main characters never have a meeting face to face. Three intertwined stories but tbey always just miss each other. The fact there is no music was a big thing when it came out.
Yes. Nihilism is a theme of this film. I.e. In the end, the world is the world and nothing more. And the whims of the natural world are chaotic and act without regard to your circumstance. Which is the truth of our existence. It's not selfish. It's just the way the world is. Doesn't mean you can't love and cherish and be kind and laugh and care.
To me Chigurh represents the randomness and unfairness of life and death. Some people he kills without the coin toss--those who get in his way--but people he could easily spare (the gas station owner and Carla) get the coin toss. Chigurh himself is emotionless throughout the movie and can't be bargained with. He is a man a strict principles, albeit weird ones. When you do get insight into his motivations, you get his philosophy.
Really enjoyed your reaction/s. But if you think about it, nihilistic thought accounts for a great deal of what built America. Both past and present. Lastly...your wife's (?) facial features, (especially her lips/mouth) remind me a lot of the actor Reese Witherspoon. (it's a compliment!!)
The killer in the movie isn't a serial killer. He's the guy they originally hired to get the money back. Most of the people he killed was because he felt betrayed or something like that..
The unit on top of the trailer is a swamp cooler. Some parts out west are so dry you use a swamp cooler to cool while also humidifying the air. And when I say dry, I mean relative humidity under 10%.
@@lithium23 Not a serial killer. Doesn't meet the definition of "...a person who commits a series of murders, often with no apparent motive...". He kills his target (motive) and anyone else he comes across who might be able to identify him. Sociopath? Definitely. Serial killer? Nah
@@ronlackey2689 "often with no apparent motive" Key word often, the actual FBI definition is just about kills, but him flipping a coin determining to kill someone is not what you are describing him as. What is the motive for the coin flip? Also, the way Woody Harrelson character describes him, as well as him shooting at a bird for no reason, was to give the watcher the impression that this guy doesn't do it as a job, but just happened to find a job that fit his bloodlust. Considering he betrayed his employer would leave one to conclude this as well.
@@lithium23 I would think they key words are no and motive. let me reiterate. he had motive (his job as a hitman). I don't think he got off asserting power over another as a serial killer might do. He was assigned the job of finding the person who stole the cartel's money and he did it ruthlessly. Perhaps he flipped a coin for those he was amused or intrigued by. Most got no coin flip at all. It was quite random. Or maybe that was some odd insertion by the Coen Brothers to make people question it. Woody Harrelson grudgingly admired his efficiency as a hit man, telling Llewellyn "you've met Chigurh and you're still alive?" I think you are overthinking the attempted bird killing. if that was some unspoken affirmation of his bloodlust, it was a ham handed attempt at best. I think the other 99.9% of the movie proves proves that killing is his line of work and he is very efficient doing so. If you are talking about him shooting that guy in the office building, he wasn't Chigurh's employer. His employer was the cartel. That guy was a cartel money counter or launderer who screwed up his job and paid the same price other people do when crossing the cartels. Read up on what these cartel hitmen thugs do to people today. It's too graphic to go into here. None of them are serial killers. They kill when commanded to, not when the mood strikes them.
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I ordered the soundtrack and received a blank disc.
Last track was a ranchera.
Everybody took the money. Taxi driver, desk clerk at the hotel, the dudes at the border, the mariachi band, heck even the kids after the accident. They all knew they were being offered the money to cover for shady or criminal business and they still took the money.
Kash is King
¿Plata o plomo?
It's a captive bolt stunner. This device, also known as a cattle gun or stun gun, is typically used for humanely killing livestock. (Copied and pasted because I'm being lazy this morning.)
Yeah, it's used to knock cattle out so that they are still and don't thrash about when they are killed by having their own throats slit. This is performed in a slaughter house or a meat packing plant (also called a locker) this is the process for getting steaks
@@jacerogers9903 I heard they stopped using those by the early 90's (film took place in 1980)
The sheriff is just used to it all. He’s not corrupt at all. He was pissed that the guy delivering bodies didn’t secure them well so people could see them and they could fall off.
Carla Jean was played by Kelly Macdonald who is Scottish. Her accent is incredible.
I used to manage a theater and would sneak in as much as I could to watch parts of this movie, I would just stare at the screen….I didn’t even feel myself breathing at times, absolutely love it
My personal take on this movie is that it's really about fate versus choice. Chigurh represents fate, Llewellyn represents choice and Sheriff Bell represents the middle point of a man who believes in justice and the rules of society. All of them find themselves tested in their perspective of the world in their own way.
The most interesting of those to me is Chigurh because it's my belief that he genuinely felt he was being guided by some higher power in his role as a hired killer. When Carla-Jean refused to call his coin toss, it essentially upended his entire belief system because it meant he had to take responsibility for killing her himself. I believe this is why he gets hit by a car at the end: either he was so rattled by having his beliefs challenged that he had lost his killer instinct... Or he actually WAS being protected by some higher power who revoked said protection when he chose not to follow their divine rule of obeying the coin toss. The Coens cleverly leave it ambiguous as to which really happened.
Lobos is Spanish for wolves. They explain Anton Chigur’s weapon briefly when the sheriff is thinking about it, he says they have things that they kill cattle with that shoots a metal rod in and pulls it back out. So it’s not nails, it shoots a metal rod in their head with air pressure and pulls it back in in an instant.
Javier Bardem as Anton is the most frightening character I've ever seen in a movie. He won an Oscar for his performance and deservedly so.
In the realm of perfect villains, for me, it’s between him and Gary Oldman in Leon, The Professional. Absolutely superb characters and world-class actors.
Interesting note: Woody Harrelson plays a hitman. His father was an actual hitman. Sr. murdered the first federal judge assassinated in the 20th century. I read that he killed at least one more judge and that he MAY have been involved in the JFK assassination.
Harrelson isn't a hitman, he's a bounty hunter.
@@johnjohnmcclane1818 He actually is a hitman in the book, among other duties. They don't really elaborate on it in the movie, though. It's implied that he's a kind of all-purposes bagman who is being tasked with retrieving the cash. It's just that doing this will more than likely involve him having to deal with Chigurh in one form or another.
Charles Harrelson was a mechanic in Dallas, a pleasant handsome man. Ironically, he was also a gun-for-hire. He only used a rifle to carry out his jobs even at close range. He was arrested for the only killing he didn't commit, by his own account, and was definitely there the day Kennedy was assassinated.
Yeah, this movie goes way deeper. I think Anton is the personification of "you can't stip what's coming," ...this impending doom that will cross everyone's path. His accident shows regardless of your choice, your luck of chance, your control over anything, the same fate is coming for all of us, inevitably.
The old sheriff is the main character and the movie is about his struggle with accepting how the world is changing. Also there is no soundtrack at all, they relied mainly on sound effects and suspense. Genius.
One of my favorite films of all time. So good that you don't even realize there isn't any music.
The motivation of Anton is clear: the perception of power, and freedom. He is the ultimate expression of this, since most people's freedom comes at the cost of what the group needs/wants. He doesnt care about that, so he is able to do what he wants violently, which he percieves as freedom, which gives him power. How would you explain to him that he's wrong for doing these things, when you and everyone else keeps failing to stop him?
But if you dont believe me, see how the sherif talks about his dream, about his father. How his father will wander up the path to light his way into the future. See, thats the problem with Anton. Not only can he not see what the rest of us offer, but I think the creator of the movie/story was also saying he will never see the true point and potential of power, which is not always freedom, but love for another person. If you have ever found real love in your life, you know like the rest of us that it isnt always about power and freedom, which unbinds us away from the cycle of violence and allows us to choose other things in our lives. Anton will continue to kill, not because he is powerful and free, but because he is a slave to himself.
I appreciate your comment and perspective, but I feel like they didn’t give him any motivation. He needs none. He is a force of nature. He is like life, like the universe, he is ambivalent and needs no motivation. He does not set out to be cruel, he has no axe to grind, he just does what he does. And I think the sheriff and his journey of discovery and realization is a representation of this; that life makes no sense, and you’ll be left in the cold and the dark with nobody to light your way.
@butkusfan23 if that's the case and he really doesn't care, then why make it a point to spare them with the coin toss? Hes asserting his power over them. But hay you're cool to see it the way you do, even though you aren't incorporating his emotions in this. And I didn't say his motivation is cruelty, just his perception of power and freedom.
I really appreciate this write up, it's a thought-provoking view!
@@butkusfan23 He's a paid hitman for the cartel and he's very good at it. There's his motivation.
Nice analysis. I would say that Anton is just an animal.
Some explanations:
When Llewelyn took a cab back to his motel room, he saw that the curtains weren't as he had left them. He figured (correctly) that someone was waiting for him there. It was the Mexican cartel. That's why he rented the room behind it, so he could get the money out through the air ducts. When Chigurh tracked the money to that same motel room, he rented the room next to it and studied its layout to plan his attack. When he burst into Llewelyn's room he killed all the Mexican cartel members who were there waiting for Llewelyn. But Llewelyn was able to get the money and leave before Chigurh figured out where it was.
When Carla Jean and her mother went to El Paso, one of the Mexican cartel members got the mom to tell him where they were going. They killed Llewelyn and some other people when they found him there. The beer lady was just a bystander.
One of the things that makes Chigurh terrifying is that he thinks he's carrying out fate, or at least tells that to himself (and others) to explain his behavior. Because of that, you can't reason with him. But in the end, even Chigurh is subject to the same random chance as everyone else.
If I came across a drug deal gone wrong with dead bodies all over the place, I'd run like hell and hope no one saw me. I wouldn't look for money, and if I saw any, I wouldn't take it. I'd call the police from some other location. I like money, but I like being alive even more.
Thanks for explaining that, I've seen this movie many times but I wasn't really sure if they were waiting in his room or somewhere else.
Lleweyn's wife says she buried her mother today. Is there any indication of how she died?
@@Tnz69 She mentioned a couple of times that she had cancer.
I'll add one thing, the Mexican cartel left the motel room after killing Llewellyn without finding the money. Chigur is the one who retrieved the money after the cops left. When the Sheriff went back and saw the lock busted he knew that Chigur had been there and there was a change he could still be there.
I never understood how the Mexican and Chigurh tracked Llewelyn to that first motel room. The money and the tracker were pretty much in between the two motel rooms Llewelyn rented. How did they both focussed on the first room Llewelyn rented?
Bro says, "I am not a thinker." and keeps uttering one profound statement after another.
One of the best movies of the last 20 years.
No musical score for this movie. Doesn't need it. Insanely atmospheric without music.
Not a nail gun. It's a 'slaughterhouse gun'. Kills cattle & sheep.
The shorter barrel give a wider spread of shot, and the gun's easier to conceal in a tote bag or under a coat.
Brilliant.
This story takes place around 1980. Things were simpler then. At the time when people were too trusting and just didn't think that people would do this. Even the sherif. It's called No.Country for Old Men because the older you get, times change but you don't change with it.
The whole point of the movie is that times don't change and there was never any "simpler time".
Well, it’s that the attitudes and beliefs of generations do not change though the times change. The older generation will always feel that the younger generation is capable of more evil than they were. In reality, there has always been evil, it was just in package that young people of the time could understand and accept. That’s the point of Ellis’ story about how their uncle was killed. He was killed in cold blood just the same as the man Chigurh pulled over at the start of the movie. Jack the Ripper brutally took life. Ghengis Khan was ruthless towards women and children. Yet we aren’t as horrified by their acts as we are at today’s young people doing things that, while bad, aren’t worse than those. Evil has always been there. Today’s is just in a form that is shocking to the current generation of old men. As Ellis said after Ed Tom says he feels overmatched, “What you got ain’t nothin’ new.”
"They think it was bad back then." The violent crime rate was way higher in the '70s and '80s than it is now.
Shhh no one likes hearing things were actually worse in the good ol days.
That is no country for old men. The young
In one another's arms, birds in the trees,
-Those dying generations-at their song,
The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas,
Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long
Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.
Caught in that sensual music all neglect
Monuments of unageing intellect.
An aged man is but a paltry thing,
A tattered coat upon a stick, unless
Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing
For every tatter in its mortal dress,
Nor is there singing school but studying
Monuments of its own magnificence;
And therefore I have sailed the seas and come
To the holy city of Byzantium.
From 'Sailing to Byzantium'
William Butler Yeats
Whoa Nelly. A literate man on UA-cam? This is simply impossible.
@@barrycohen311 Lol! I have studied the literature of many civilizations, and trained ceaselessly in rhetoric, for the express purpose of emotionally disemboweling trolls on the internet...
3 replies wishing from lonely young writers looking for love
Llewelyn was the name of the last king of Wales who fought a losing war... It also means lion. Anton's name has the meaning of void symbolically, and mythologically was the son of Hercules who was given the task of killing a lion. Alot of people attribute this film to being nihilistic, but Anton isn't really nihilistic, he's just perfectly adaptable, and pragmatic, and devoid of things that a regular person accumulates living their lives... Even at the end of the movie, after the accident you see him take off a different direction than he was originally headed... In the book he basically isn't given a description, because he is less like a thing that actually exists in the world and more like something that seemingly comes from nowhere fully formed, but not a person in the traditional sense, more like a force of nature, and a force of nature doesn't hate or philosophize.
When Javier Bardem got that haircut, he looked in the mirror and said, "I'm not getting laid for 3 months." XD. If you guys really liked this, check out The Road starring Viggo Mortenson. It's based on another book by the same guy who wrote No Country For Old Men
Before Javier got the cut, he did not really know what it would be. All they told him was "Think of the fifth Beatle from hell."
Another amazing Cohen brothers movie is "Fargo".
You touched on something I think is incredibly important for ANY movie watching experience.
At around 17 minutes you said “you don’t get it, but you’re just accepting..”
That’s Brilliant!!
With movies in general, you don’t have to “Get It”, or Understand it, you just have to Accept... that’s it..
While you’re watching, you suspend your disbelief, accept everything you’re being shown, the reflect on it after the experience is complete.. Keep that up!!!
I wish people would get "that" ... Some people try and think and it hurts them too much😊
Winner of 4 Oscars including Best Picture.
And best supporting actor, the nitrogen bottle cattle gun
@@RosaParksWasWyt😂😂
Anton had one mission...recovering the money. Everything else is just annoyance to him. Any resistance from anyone or anything is eliminated. He had his own set of rules, regardless of logic.
It's definitely one you gotta watch twice! A lot of people do miss that Anton and the Mexicans are different. It's funny you mention O Brother Where Art Thou! cause it was made by the same people.
Why did Anton kill the man in the office building who was in a meeting with the accountant?
I think that Anton was annoyed that another hitman (Woody Harrelson) was hired to kill him and return the money.
Get used to it. The "Coen Brothers" do some next level Dark films that Jacks with your mind. Go down their rabbit hole if you dare! Hahaha
One of the few movies to nail the West Texas accent perfectly. Llewellyn was spot on, the small store owner was perfect, the two lady motel and trailer park owners spot on, Sheriff and his deputy spot on. Woody Harrelson spot on. Carla jean....well, hers was a bit forced and overly done but not bad.
The even acted like West Texans. That lady said she can't give out any information and by God, she meant it LOL. The motel lady was not about wasting money and she was going to let him know LOL. And the best, when Carla Jean said Llewellyn would take all comers. They are great people out in West Texas, but when they fight watch out.
Given that Kelly McDonald who played Carla Jean is Scottish with an actual thick Scottish accent (she did the voice for Merida in Pixar's "Brave" and her accent is in full Scots brogue in "Trainspotting") I'd say her Texas accent was pretty damn great.
@@heyheyjk-la it was a nice piece of acting no doubt, but it was a bit over the top twangy.
At 3:59 "Cierre la puerta. Hay lobos," means "Close the door. There are wolves" in this desert.
Life has no meaning, we have meaning and we bring it to life. (Campbell).
and him saying because you have no kids you have no life is ridiculous
8:06 Chigur is upset because the gas attendant basically said (by saying "I saw you were from Dallis") that he saw the license plate off his stolen car. He scolds him for not minding his own business. Stressing whether he needs to kill him. Assessing the risk of letting him live, but not gleaning many redemptive qualities. Thus chooses to flip a coin.
Lobo is Spanish for wolf.
I don't think Tommy Lee Jones was supposed to be corrupt. He definitely had a lackadaisical approach to law enforcement, probably due to the situation he was in.
Llewelyn had a sawed off shotgun. Typically shot guns are sawed off to make them more concealable, but removing part of the barrel also increases the spread of the shells (each of which hold 8-12 bullet size projectiles). The increased spread means that it the gun would be more accurate at close ranges, but ineffective at longer ranges.
I don't think he was lackadaisical toward law enforcement. He doggedly followed the clues that he, more cleverly than others, figured out. I think he was both a stereotypical slow-talking, pragmatic Texas old man, and also tired of the violence and corruption of life. Hence the movie's title. I think he was depressed being a sheriff because he's seen too much. Hence the eminent retirement.
@@aleatharheaI agree. I have no idea where they got that he was corrupt.
@@goldenageofdinosaurs7192I see. I just thought lackadaisical wasn’t quite right, meaning he doesn’t care, carelessly lazy or sloppy. Perhaps you meant lethargic?
@@aleatharheaNot lethargic either. Just moves slowly and thinks thoroughly. Doesn't talk unless necessary really and has years of experience to guide him, but the crime landscape is changing and he knows he's outmatched.
@@heyheyjk-la I didn't think lethargic; I just thought that might be the word goldenageofdinousaurs7192 was going for instead of lackadaisical. What you're describing is "deliberative" plus that slow-moving Texas casualness, and I agree. It goes with the Texas drawl. Fourth generation Texan here and I can tell Tommy Lee Jones is the real deal, but I feel like he can portray whoever he wants. Damn, he was good in this, wasn't he?
I’m glad y’all saw this as a moral tale. The two most important parts with regard to the morality is when he goes and talks to his older relative with the cats and when he tells his wife his dream. Listen to what the old man with the cats says.
This movie is based on a novel by Cormac McCarthy. The Coen brothers did a very good job adapting it.
McCarthy wrote three other books about the border called Border Trilogy. They’re all pretty good, but the most intense of the trilogy is Blood Meridian. It takes place before the civil war. It’s not a book for the faint of heart.
I'm with you. I take the money without a second thought.
"That gun was ahead of its time." It sure was!
Tommy Lee Jones’ monologue at the end of this is one of the best things I’ve ever heard, and I don’t even totally get it.
TLJ's main struggle in the movie is feeling that today's world is too evil for him to understand. But his cousin Ellis tells him that in reality it's always been as evil as it is now. His dream is a metaphor. He and his dad were living life at the same time (riding together) but eventually his father died and went on ahead of him. At the end of his life, when TLJ meets him again, he will have traveled through the exact same dark and evil world his father did, not one that has been darker and and more evil.
"Lobos" means wolves. He's referring to coyotes. He tells Llewellyn to close the door, fearing that coyotes will smell the blood and eat him alive.
"Ripe petunias" refers to the rotting corpses.
This movie (IMO) is about the inevitability of life and death. We may think we have control but ultimately we don't.
That's why the last coin flip is such a good scene with one of the best lines. "The coin has no say. It's just you"
Chigur is the one who makes that decision, because even accepting the results of the coin flip is his decision.
Your perspectives and review of this movie was really interesting.
- i had never really put together the "nihilism theme" that you pointed out.
alot of hate for my take but its just how i saw it
Even though it was not shown the Sheriff won the coin toss, then he realized that, it was "No Country for old Men!"
All I could think of when I saw this movie the first time was how Javier Bardem should be Two Face 🤔🤔🤔
damn you guys are pumping the videos out like crazy.
That's another gem of a movie.
The cartel is in fact after him, as well as Anton. It would be ignorant to take that money. You would never be able to live any kind of a life and you’re endangering your family. Im not touching that money. Even with no kids it doesn’t matter. My wife comes before my kids to begin with, but I’m not doing anything to endanger them. I have seen this movie so many times, examined it so many times, and the scene that always fascinates me the most is actually when Anton confronts the lady working at the mobile home park Llewelyn lives in. Amazing scene and to me shows a lot about Antons character.
No nail gun, It's a cattle stunner, used to help make your Big Macs.
Fun watching movies with you guys, thanks!
The woman that plays Tommy Lee Jones wife was Jesse’s mom in Breaking Bad.
"Yeah, I'd take it My lucky day"
"I think someone would track me down over that junk"
The lady got it right, Brother...ha ha ha
Lobo literally means wolf.
The first role I remember the sheriff's wife in was as 16 year old Tina in Jaws 2 (1978).
A lot of people posting that "lobo" means "wolf" but think more "coyote." Yes, a coyote is a type of wolf but it's smaller and less aggressive towards humans than a gray wolf, which is more what people tend to think of when they hear "wolf." At one point the deputy asks of the dead bodies at the OK Corral, "How come you reckon the coyotes ain't been at 'em?" and Ed Tom replies "Supposedly, a coyote won't eat a Mexican."
One of Dahmer's victims escaped naked and bleeding but Dhamer was able to persuade the police to let him leave with him. Insane.
Javier Bardem was just brilliant as Anton Chigurh.
Thanks, Mr. October! Thanks, Mrs. October! 🏜 This modern classic was written/directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen. Everything I've ever seen from the Coen brothers is good. Some are pure comedy. Some are drama mixed with comedy. Some, like this one, are pure drama. I hope you'll watch more of theirs. My personal favorite is RAISING ARIZONA (1987)... very funny, but it has a poignancy that always makes tears well-up in my eyes at the same part... even after all these years.
03:58 - He said "Close the door. There's wolves."
The guy in the truck was asking about lobos. He was asking about wolves. The murderer was a psychopath, not a nihilist.
You guys HAVE to watch “NOPE”
Oh yes! 😁🇬🇧
There are many movies I would put before Nope, even Jordan Peele's other movie 'Get Out'. Did you really think Nope was that good? I mean It wasn't bad, but you would have to be more of a fan of Jordan Peele than the movie itself. Each to their own I guess.
@@gunmetal2890- Yeah, I loved the filmmaking in "Nope" but not the movie itself overall. "Get Out" is still Jordan's best film, but I bet he's got a lot of great ones still coming in the next few years.
It’s Cable from DeadPool 2 also.
"You don't have to do this."
"People, always say the same thing."
"What do they say?"
"They say, 'you don't have to do this.'"
Most terrifying thing a person, let alone a psychopath, would say. One my all time favorites.......wonder what that says about me? 🤪 😁
The title of the movie is the first line of a William Butler Yeats poem called "Sailing to Byzantium."
Huh. As huge a fan I am off McCarthy and somehow I didn't know this. Thank you for sharing.
@@t0dd000 I'm an English teacher. Comes with the territory.
@@stevemadrid6522 And in an editor of a literary journal. Welcome fellow tribesman. :)
Not a nail gun, guys lol You dont need any sort of ammo for the cattle gun. Another reason he chose it im sure
The Coen Brothers made this and O Brother Where art thou, you should watch more of their movies, starting with their first film, Blood Simple
Like Tarantino, the Coen brothers like their films to connect and rhyme with each other. Anton pays 69 cents because the Dude writes a check for that amount in THE BIG LEBOWSKI. Shooting at an animal from a motor vehicle also occurs in RAISING ARIZONA and O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? Commandeering a pickup truck also occurs in RAISING ARIZONA. The Coens also often use subtle religious themes. The “vanity” speech would fit nicely in the Bhagavad Gita. The film’s last line would fit nicely in an autobiography by The Buddha.
One specific thing that happens in a lot in their films that I ALWAYS crack up over is some kind of hilarious mishap with weapons. The shootout at Leo's place in Miller's Crossing where he shoots the one thug so much that the thug shoots wildly at his OWN FEET. When the fire lights up the inside of the police wagon in O Brother and that machine gun goes off by itself at everyone. When Walter jumps out of the car with the Uzi in The Big Lebowski.. you get the picture.
The Coens are comedy geniuses, I believe.
Absolutely love this movie and so stoked to see yall checking it out
2:41 "I can see it in the chin" bruh 😂 that got me way harder than it should have 😂
34:52 that's the theme of this movie. No one is the "main character" in this story. It's just a story of something that's happened and events that played out.
It's kind of a story of everything.
My 2nd favorite film after Casablanca. McCarthy's books are outstanding as well, of course.
That seems like such a broad spectrum!
In "Batman Forever" Tommy Lee Jones plays Two-face, an insane character who uses a coin toss to decide whether to murder people.
Definitely Coen brothers most accomplished film. True Grit from a few years later is great too, their best era. Fargo-1996 to The Big Lebowski-1998 was also an impressive run of form.
He’s not a serial killer… he’s a hit man.
All Cohen brothers movies should be watched! Their first movie, which started out as a fake trailer at a film festival, is still their best. Blood Simple!
"Thia movie's really dark."
It's based on a Cormac McCarthy novel. There isn't much light in any of them.
I can't decide which one of you two I like more. ❤
The actress who plays Ed Tom Bell's wife plays Jesse Pinkman's mother in Breaking Bad.
Cormac McCarthy was too damn good, RIP. His writings are amazing! He wrote this book/helped with the movie and I also recommend “Blood Meridian”
Great reaction.
"The Serial killer" is really a hitman.
The 3 main characters never have a meeting face to face. Three intertwined stories but tbey always just miss each other. The fact there is no music was a big thing when it came out.
Lobos are wolves 😂
You guys are catching up on some great movies. So many more to come, can’t wait.
Finally a ending that young people want....just walk away.....
Yes. Nihilism is a theme of this film. I.e. In the end, the world is the world and nothing more. And the whims of the natural world are chaotic and act without regard to your circumstance. Which is the truth of our existence. It's not selfish. It's just the way the world is. Doesn't mean you can't love and cherish and be kind and laugh and care.
To me Chigurh represents the randomness and unfairness of life and death. Some people he kills without the coin toss--those who get in his way--but people he could easily spare (the gas station owner and Carla) get the coin toss. Chigurh himself is emotionless throughout the movie and can't be bargained with. He is a man a strict principles, albeit weird ones. When you do get insight into his motivations, you get his philosophy.
Really enjoyed your reaction/s.
But if you think about it, nihilistic thought accounts for a great deal of what built America.
Both past and present.
Lastly...your wife's (?) facial features, (especially her lips/mouth) remind me a lot of the actor Reese Witherspoon.
(it's a compliment!!)
That is a bolt gun. Used for killing cattle before butchering
OMG and you mentioned Thanos.. my favorite super hero of all time. My whole basement is decorated with thanos comics figures dioramas of thanos =]
Great reaction 👍
Thank you!! 😊
The music in this movie was great!....
If you want another modern Western, try Hell or High Water.
That's a good one. As is Cold in July.
Anton doesn't really care about the money, he cares that it's HIS money and that Llewelyn stole it.
The killer in the movie isn't a serial killer. He's the guy they originally hired to get the money back. Most of the people he killed was because he felt betrayed or something like that..
Am i tripping or did the train to busan got deleted?
7:33 poor Daisy. 😢
O Brother Where Art Thou is another great movie. It's a fun time. Nothing further from the vibe of this one.
Anton Chigurh was an assassin not a serial killer.
This thing is now I don't know much about Spanish I know what that word means that means Lobos means wolves fairly
Flies will be on a corpse within 30min if they have access to it. You determine the length of time by the life stages of the maggots
10:27 that’s Jessie’s mom from Breaking Bad
The unit on top of the trailer is a swamp cooler. Some parts out west are so dry you use a swamp cooler to cool while also humidifying the air. And when I say dry, I mean relative humidity under 10%.
I know the daughter and grandson of the Sheriff of Terrell County from that time period. They both said he wore a polo, not a regular uniform.
He's not a serial killer. He's a cartel hitman. The best they have.
He is def a serial killer who just happened to work as a cartel hitman part-time.
@@lithium23 Not a serial killer. Doesn't meet the definition of "...a person who commits a series of murders, often with no apparent motive...". He kills his target (motive) and anyone else he comes across who might be able to identify him. Sociopath? Definitely. Serial killer? Nah
@@ronlackey2689 "often with no apparent motive" Key word often, the actual FBI definition is just about kills, but him flipping a coin determining to kill someone is not what you are describing him as. What is the motive for the coin flip? Also, the way Woody Harrelson character describes him, as well as him shooting at a bird for no reason, was to give the watcher the impression that this guy doesn't do it as a job, but just happened to find a job that fit his bloodlust. Considering he betrayed his employer would leave one to conclude this as well.
@@lithium23 I would think they key words are no and motive. let me reiterate. he had motive (his job as a hitman). I don't think he got off asserting power over another as a serial killer might do. He was assigned the job of finding the person who stole the cartel's money and he did it ruthlessly. Perhaps he flipped a coin for those he was amused or intrigued by. Most got no coin flip at all. It was quite random. Or maybe that was some odd insertion by the Coen Brothers to make people question it. Woody Harrelson grudgingly admired his efficiency as a hit man, telling Llewellyn "you've met Chigurh and you're still alive?" I think you are overthinking the attempted bird killing. if that was some unspoken affirmation of his bloodlust, it was a ham handed attempt at best. I think the other 99.9% of the movie proves proves that killing is his line of work and he is very efficient doing so. If you are talking about him shooting that guy in the office building, he wasn't Chigurh's employer. His employer was the cartel. That guy was a cartel money counter or launderer who screwed up his job and paid the same price other people do when crossing the cartels. Read up on what these cartel hitmen thugs do to people today. It's too graphic to go into here. None of them are serial killers. They kill when commanded to, not when the mood strikes them.
I hope you guys watch Undersiege (1992). The Sheriff guy in this movie(Tommy Lee Jones) is in it.