The wife and I took the day off and went and caught No Country For Old Men. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but had to apologize to my wife all afternoon for making her sit through such a violent film. I'd read some reviews, and knew the last 20 minutes of the film kind of take a left turn, and left a lot of people scratching their heads. But I thought the ending was great and really showed the movie isn't about the $2 million or a psychopathic hitman, but it's really about fate & chance and whether or not we can control fate & chance with the decisions we make. I thought the cinematography was beautiful (but I've always been partial to west Texas & New Mexico), and the landscape may have been one of the most important characters in the film.
I give the film an enthusiastic thumbs-up! Now, I haven't seen any of the other films that were nominated for Best Picture, but I have no argument against the Best Picture win for No Country at the 2008 Academy Awards. The casting was spot-on for the most part. Tommy Lee Jones was made for these kinds of roles. Josh Brolin did a fantastic job as a man who constantly made dumb decisions. And Javier Bardem is probably the scariest man on the planet. If he walked into my office or my house, I swear I'd just shoot myself and save him the trouble. I think even Chuck Norris would soil himself if he had to face Chigurh. I will admit, though, that it was jarring when "Woody Boyd" and "Jimmy James" showed up on screen. Plus I thought the cancer-ridden mother-in-law seemed too much like a caricature, like Vicki Lawrence on Mama's Family.
Anyway, great, great film! I think I love the Coen Brothers.