No Country For Old Men (2007) Miramax Films/Paramount Pictures 📢 Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen. 💰 Producer: Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen. 👫 Cast: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin. 🏆 Awards ceremony: -80th Academy Awards: February 24, 2008. Kodak Theatre, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. 🎭 Other films nominated for Best Picture this year: -Atonement. -Juno. -Michael Clayton. -There Will Be Blood. 📕 Plot summary: A hunter stumbles upon a drug deal-gone wrong in the Texas desert where he finds several dead bodies... and a briefcase filled with $2million. He takes the money and hides it away inside an air vent at a motel room, but a tracking device inside the briefcase leads a dangerous (and somewhat mentally unstable) criminal right to it. 💥 Standout scene(s): -The scene where Josh Brolin has the conversation with the American border guard and wants to re-enter the United States. -Javier Bardem in the bath and trying to extract the gunshot fragments from his leg. Ouch. -The gas station attendant's discussion with Javier Bardem early into the film which ends in a coin toss. 🔑 Facts: -The 80th Academy Awards. -Nominated for 8 Academy Awards, it won 4: Best Picture, Director, Supporting Actor (Javier Bardem), Screenplay (adapted). 🙂 Personal opinion: Some really good directing and well-filmed exteriors are all positive points, but the absolute best part of the film is Javier Bardem's magnificent performance, which nabbed him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The scene where he gives the gas station attendant a hard time really establishes the sinister character that was to come. Bardem grabs your attention quickly with a methodical manner about him that is hard to resist. He is the true villain of the film yet you just can't hate him because he outshines the otherwise bland cast. The final scenes with Tommy Lee Jones are really long and boring; too much explanation to justify the plot points that we could have lived without. There were a few surprises in terms of character deaths too. All in all, this is an above average film with one outstanding performance, but there is also something lacking as well. Did it deserve the Oscar? ✅YES. 7/10

Review date: 09 June 2025