 After opening in limited release last week, the Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men expands across the country this weekend. It is by far the best-reviewed movie so far this season -- or perhaps even this year. Peter Howell in the Toronto Star states flatly: "No Country for Old Men may just be the year's best picture." Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun Times compares the film to the Coens' earlier Fargo. "To make one such film is a miracle. Here is another," he writes. Claudia Puig in USA Today begins her review by writing that the movie "is suspenseful, bleak and haunting. Nothing about it is life-affirming, yet one can't help but be uplifted by the mesmerizing quality of the filmmaking and the masterful performances." Michael Phillips in the Chicago Tribune writes that it took two viewings of the film for him "to appreciate it fully for what it is, a viciously effective exercise in suspense, and worry less about what it isn't (important, 'meaningful,' a work of moral gravity)." Ty Burr in the Boston Globe calls it the Coens' "weightiest yet most cleanly crafted work to date." And A.O. Scott in the New York Times observes that for "moviegoers sent into raptures by tight editing, nimble camera work and faultless sound design, it's pure heaven. So before I go any further, allow me my moment of bliss at the sheer brilliance of the Coens' technique." He concludes by writing that after the film ended, he was left with "the jangled, stunned sensation of having witnessed a ruthless application of craft." |
