No Country for Old Men

Movie Details:

Based on	No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Crime, Drama, Thriller
Release date	May 19, 2007 (Cannes) November 9, 2007 (United States)
Running time	2hr 2min
Age rating	R
Starring	Tommy Lee Jones Javier Bardem Josh Brolin
Directed by	Joel Coen Ethan Coen
Screenplay by	Joel Coen Ethan Coen
Produced by	Scott Rudin Ethan Coen Joel Coen
Cinematography by	Roger Deakins
Edited by	Roderick Jaynes
Music by	Carter Burwell
Production Company	Paramount Vantage Scott Rudin Productions Mike Zoss Productions
Distributor	Miramax Films (United States) Paramount Pictures (International)

Cast & Characters:

• Tommy Lee Jones as Ed Tom Bell
• Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh
• Josh Brolin as Llewelyn Moss
• Woody Harrelson as Carson Wells
• Kelly Macdonald as Carla Jean Moss
• Garret Dillahunt as Wendell
• Tess Harper as Loretta Bell
• Barry Corbin as Ellis
• Stephen Root as Man who hires Wells
• Rodger Boyce as El Paso Sheriff
• Beth Grant as Carla Jean’s mother
• Ana Reeder as Poolside Woman
• Matt Geistler as Poolside Man
• Josh Blaylock and Caleb Jones as Boys on Bikes
• Gene Jones as Gas Station Proprietor
• Kathy Lamkin as Desert Aire Manager

Storyline:

In rural Texas, welder and hunter Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) discovers the remains of several drug runners who have all killed each other in an exchange gone violently wrong. Rather than report the discovery to the police, Moss decides to simply take the two million dollars present for himself. This puts the psychopathic killer, Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), on his trail as he dispassionately murders nearly every rival, bystander and even employer in his pursuit of his quarry and the money. As Moss desperately attempts to keep one step ahead, the blood from this hunt begins to flow behind him with relentlessly growing intensity as Chigurh closes in. Meanwhile, the laconic Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) blithely oversees the investigation even as he struggles to face the sheer enormity of the crimes he is attempting to thwart.

About Movie:

No Country for Old Men is an American neo-Western crime thriller written, directed, produced, and edited by Joel and Ethan Coen. Adapted from Cormac McCarthy’s 2005 novel, the film stars Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin, and takes place in the desert landscapes of 1980s West Texas.

The story explores themes of fate, conscience, and circumstance, elements previously seen in the Coen brothers’ films Blood Simple (1984), Raising Arizona (1987), and Fargo (1996).

The film was co-produced by Miramax Films and Paramount’s classics division, with production beginning in May 2006 in New Mexico and Texas. Filming took place in New Mexico cities like Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Las Vegas, which doubled as Texas border towns. Additional scenes were shot in West Texas, including around the towns of Sanderson and Marfa. The production budget was $25 million.

No Country for Old Men premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 19, 2007. It went on to gross $171 million worldwide, receiving critical acclaim for the Coen brothers’ direction, screenplay, and Bardem’s performance.

The film won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, as well as three BAFTAs and two Golden Globes. It is one of only four Westerns to ever win the Academy Award for Best Picture, alongside Cimarron (1931), Dances with Wolves (1990), and Unforgiven (1992).

Hailed as one of the best films of 2007, No Country for Old Men is widely regarded as the Coen brothers’ finest work. Many sources have listed it as one of the greatest films of the 2000s and the 21st century.

Critics like The Guardian’s John Patterson praised its Western classicism, while Peter Travers of Rolling Stone called it a “career peak” for the Coens. Notably, a 2014 study from researchers at Université libre de Bruxelles found Bardem’s portrayal of Anton Chigurh to be the most clinically accurate depiction of a psychopath in film.

Budget & Box Office Collection:

Budget	$25 million
Domestic Opening	$1,202,000
Domestic Collection	$74,283,625
International Collection	$97,344,115
Worldwide Collection	$171,632,777