The other night I watched Stanley Kramer's Judgment at Nuremberg, a classic film that held a place in my my mind as a powerful, all-encompassing statement on Nazi atrocities. Upon revisiting it, while still retaining many dynamic sequences, it seemed to have lost much of its initial effect. I bring this up to make the point of how many great movies actually get better upon subsequent viewings? The Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men is one of these films. Adapted from Cormac McCarthy's novel, it tells the story of a drug deal gone bad in a barren Texan wasteland and three men, a brazen working class laborer (Josh Brolin), a weary, aging sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones), and a cold blooded psychopath (Javier Bardem) all in pursuit of a briefcase containing 2 million dollars. Made without a soundtrack, and containing scenes of great tension, harsh violence, dark humor, great acting, and perceptive philosophizing it is an almost impossible to fathom film of great construction that offers more and more with each viewing.
