No Country for Old Men

My friend mentioned yesterday that he saw No Country for Old Men, but wouldn't talk about it or even say whether he liked it until I saw it myself. That meant of course that I (R) had to run out and rent the movie right away. I wavered about whether to spoil it in my post by listing all my questions, but I won't. However, I will say openly (and disappointingly) that I couldn't enjoy it. Maybe this was a case where reading the book might have been the better option.

I'm going to sound like a bore even to myself, but the movie left me weary. Perhaps I don't have the patience for that kind of violence anymore or I just wasn't in the mood to be up half the night with questions swirling around my head.

I respect good direction, cinematography, acting and dialogue. Parsed out, each was brilliant, and I pointed them out while we watched. But I couldn't ignore the blood enough to appreciate them, and ended up disagreeing with the movie's Best Picture win. In my frustration I even thought that if a movie has to resort to that much violence to entertain the audience, it lacks creativity and doesn't deserve to win. Then again, The Departed is one of my favorite movies and Sweeney Todd didn't bother me. Is it because Javier Bardem was so convincing a psychopath? Probably.

I know my aversion has much to do with being a mother. Before I had little ones I had a stronger stomach for violent movies. But when you spend all your waking hours trying to protect children, you're repulsed and angered by anything that threatens their safety, even if that threat is remote or only in the form of a nightmarish image. Maybe I should accept that I'm no longer the target audience.

Some say these types of movies are cathartic, and I was going to dismiss that, but then realized my kids looked a bit different this morning. Their toothy smiles took on an extra significance - innocence emblazoned across their fresh faces. Sometimes you need to see the devil to appreciate the angels.

My opinion of No Country for Old Men might be simplistic because it ignores the movie's heavy undertones of human nature and our helplessness to prevent it. So be it. Maybe I'll rethink my opinion by discussing it. I'm open to suggestions.