No Country for Old Men

A friend pointed me to this excellent analysis of the end of the new Coen brothers movie (obviously, there are spoilers) by film critic Glenn Kenny. Kenny does a good job of pointing out divergences from the novel on which the film is based in order to pinpoint the significance of the Coens’ ending. He also does a fine job of putting the final scene into historical context. And for good measure, here’s a rebuttal from Alicublog. I tend to side with Kenny on this one (who apparently considers the film a masterpiece), although I’ll have to see it again before taking a strong position. Throughout the work the Coens refuse to show you what you want to see, ultimately transforming a thriller into an elegy. The question of whether this is a great film hangs on whether the transformation is successful, or is an overreach, an unraveling. That question’s not so easy to answer on just one viewing.

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