History Literature / NoCountryForOldMen

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: This is basically what Chigurh's "moral code" is, at least to him. He has rules, but they make no sense to anyone except him, and he absolutely cannot be reasoned with.

* DecoyProtagonist: Llewelyn Moss. Sheriff Bell is the real protagonist, and delivers both the opening and closing monologues. The story is basically about an old man not adapting to the reality of the brutal environment he works in.

* DespairEventHorizon: Bell just about crosses it [[spoiler:after the deaths of Llewelyn and Carla Jean]]. A conversation with his Uncle Ellis reminds him that criminality and senseless violence have always been part of life in the region. Bell's narration ends on an ambiguous note as he relates two dreams he had. (They seem to allude to Creator/CormacMcCarthy's masterpiece ''Literature/TheRoad''.)

* {{Determinator}}: Pretty much ''all'' the men. [[spoiler:But Chigurh trumps everyone else; ''nothing'', not even potentially crippling injuries, will keep him down for long.]]

* DownerEnding: Basically, [[spoiler:TheBadGuyWins]]. Not only [[spoiler:is the DecoyProtagonist murdered (off-screen)]], but then [[spoiler:the villain murders the hero's teenage wife (again, off-screen) and escapes justice, leaving an old man to contemplate his inability to act in the face of so much seemingly pointless violence of the world]].

* TheSociopath: Anton Chigurh is such a potent one that he's basically a walking force of unstoppable evil.

* BrickJoke: This example exists only in the book:
--> When Sheriff Bell first meets Carla Jean, he removes his hat which she takes to mean that he's informing her that her husband is dead, and Bell has to quickly calm her down and explain that he was just being polite before she has a breakdown. Later on (and this scene is in the film) they meet again and he removes his hat once more, only this time [[spoiler:Llewelyn]] is actually dead and it takes Carla Jean a moment to understand this time.

* IronicEcho: Not verbally exchanges, but when Chigurh [[spoiler:gets into a car collision that gives him a nasty open fracture (read: the bone piercing the skin]], he asks two youths for his shirt as a (partial) disguise in exchange for a lot of money. Llewellyn did it earlier after getting wounded by Anton, asking three college-age kids for a coat in exchange for a lot of money.

* RealityHasNoSoundtrack: The film uses an almost exclusive {{diegetic}} soundtrack in some places and silence in others, which adds to the NothingIsScarier theme of the film.

The film was honored with numerous awards: it received three British Academy of Film awards, two Golden Globes, and {{Academy Award}}s for Best Picture (Scott Rudin and [[Creator/TheCoenBrothers Ethan and Joel Coen]]), Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay (the Coen brothers), and Best Supporting Actor (Creator/JavierBardem).

A neo-western thriller. When rugged Vietnam veteran Llewelyn Moss finds the horrific aftermath of a botched drug deal and takes a suitcase filled with money, he sets in motion a spiral of violence beyond his control or comprehension. An old and unhappy sheriff, Ed Tom Bell, is determined to prove that there's still a place for justice in an otherwise unfair and cruel world as he sets out to find Moss and protect him from the owners of the money.

The novel was written by CormacMcCarthy, a grizzled old man who refuses to discuss his books beyond their often disturbing content. The movie was written and directed by Creator/TheCoenBrothers -- two oddballs with a great sense of black humor and a love for twisted storylines -- but this breathtaking and chillingly eerie film is considerably bleaker than anything else they've done.

The film was honored with numerous awards: it received three British Academy of Film awards, two Golden Globes, and {{Academy Award}}s for Best Picture (Scott Rudin, [[Creator/TheCoenBrothers Ethan and Joel Coen]]), Best Director ([[Creator/TheCoenBrothers Joel and Ethan Coen]]), Best Adapted Screenplay (by [[Creator/TheCoenBrothers Joel and Ethan Coen]]), and Best Supporting Actor (Creator/JavierBardem).

!!'''Contains examples of:'''

* AloneWithThePsycho: Most characters in the story find themselves alone and helpless with Anton Chigurh. [[spoiler:No one ever shows up to rescue them]].

** It's never made explicit whether Chigurh killed [[spoiler:the hotel manager, the accountant, and Carla Jean, though he checks the soles of his shoes ''after'' leaving Carla Jean's home]];

* AndTheAdventureContinues: [[spoiler:Chigurh now has to track the money to Mexico... if he can get there with a shattered, useless arm]].

* BriefcaseFullOfMoney

* ContractOnTheHitman: Carson is hired to kill Anton after [[spoiler:Anton kills the managerials who'd come with him out to survey the deal gone bad, as well as the Mexicans at the motel, causing his boss to think he'd gone rogue.]]

* CreepyMonotone: Chigurh.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Than anything the Coen Brothers did previously, even their debut ''Film/BloodSimple''
* DeadpanSnarker:
** Llewelyn Moss is (at least at first) a carefree one. His wife Carla Jean Moss is a fretful one. Ed Tom Bell is a wistful, morose one. Anton Chigurh is a cold and deadly one.
** "What business is it of yours where I'm from...friendo?"
* DeathIsDramatic: Sometimes, but just as often, averted or even [[SubvertedTrope subverted]].
* {{Deconstruction}}: A specialty both of CormacMcCarthy and Creator/TheCoenBrothers. Moss in particular is a deconstruction of the action hero, especially the older tougher variety. He thinks of himself as tough, resourceful, and morally righteous. To the audience, he comes across as greedy, vain and stupid, never really thinking of the consequences of his actions or of the potential cost to those around him. Like Sheriff Bell, Moss is an archetype of a forgotten era, from a time when men never gave in to bad guys and the lines of black and white were clear. He doesn't seem to realize that the world is turning into a much darker place where men like him have no place. [[spoiler:Unlike Bell, he never realizes and pays the ultimate price for his arrogance.]]

* DespairEventHorizon: Bell just about crosses it [[spoiler:after the deaths of Llewelyn and Carla Jean]]. A conversation with his Uncle Ellis reminds him that criminality and senseless violence have always been part of life in the region. Bell's narration ends on an ambiguous note as he relates two dreams he had. (They seem to allude to CormacMcCarthy's masterpiece ''Literature/TheRoad''.)

* {{Determinator}}: Pretty much ''all'' the men. [[spoiler:But Chigurh trumps everyone else.]]
* DisapprovingLook: TommyLeeJones' famous "Implied Facepalm".

* DownerEnding: Basically, [[spoiler:TheBadGuyWins]]. Not only [[spoiler:is the DecoyProtagonist murdered (off-screen),]] but then [[spoiler:the villain murders the hero's teenage wife (again, off-screen) and escapes justice, leaving an old man to contemplate his inability to act in the face of so much seemingly pointless violence of the world]].

* EasterEgg: The credits include an attribution for "The One Right Tool", a reference one of Chigurh's apparent reasons for turning on his employer. (Right above it is a credit for "Serious Matters": i.e.: lawyerin' stuff.)

-->'''Carla Jean:''' The coin ain't got no say. It's just ''you''.

-->'''Chigurh:''' You should admit your situation. There would be more dignity in it.

* FluffyTheTerrible: [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]]; "Chigurh" is pronounced almost like "sugar". Then there's his sense of fashion...
* FollowTheLeader: The Coen Brothers admitted they had to work ''hard'' to make sure the film was distinguishable from ''TheTerminator''.

* HollywoodSilencer: Chigurh's Remington 11-87 shotgun has a report no louder than that of a BB gun.

--> '''Llewelyn:''' If I don't come back, tell mother I love her."
--> '''Carla Jean:''' Your mother's dead."
--> '''Llewelyn:''' Well, then I'll tell her myself."

* ImprobableWeaponUser: Chigurh. He uses a pneumatic cattle bolt gun as a a lock-breaker and once as an improvised weapon, and his primary firearm is a silenced Remington 11-87 with a pistol grip.

* TheIngenue: Carla Jean Moss, who is geniunely innocent of Llewellyn's antics.

--> '''Carla Jean''': You don't have to do this.
--> '''Chigurh''': People always say the same thing.
--> '''Carla Jean''': What did they say?
--> '''Chigurh''': They say "you don't have to do this".

* MacGuffin: Moss has a suitcase containing $2 million. Chigurh is hunting Moss to get the money. Bell is hunting Chigurh and simultaneously hunting Moss in hopes of getting him to safety. [[spoiler:Chigurh never catches up with Moss, and Bell never catches up with either Moss or Chigurh. Bell and Chigurh ''almost'' cross paths, but they never actually meet one another.]]
* AMacGuffinFullOfMoney

* ProfessionalKiller: Both Anton Chigurh and Carson Wells.
* PsychoForHire:
** Anton Chigurh.
** While he is clearly overshadowed in this aspect by Chigurh, Carson Wells is by his own right a quite psychopathic killer.

* SeventiesHair: Chigurh. It only adds to his creepiness.
* ShootOutTheLock: Chigurh uses the cattle gun to do this when he's not using it for... [[{{Squick}} other]] [[NightmareFuel things]].

** The dying man asking for water, aside from a few details, is very close to the same scene in Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly.

** Chigurh wears the same haircut as [[Film/HardBoiled Mad Dog.]]

* SlasherSmile: Chigurh sports a [[NightmareFuel lovely]] one during the strangling scene.

* TwentyMinutesIntoThePast: The book was released in 2005, and the movie, 2007. Set in the 1980s.

* WhamLine:
** Doubles as BadassBoast.

** Or it might've been if not for the subversion.

** Moss is clever enough to have a plan for when his motel room is comprimised. He places his satchel of money in an air vent he can reach from another room. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, he isn't able to keep up for too long.]]
** When Anton Chigurh [[spoiler: is outsmarted and injured by Moss outside the Eagle Motel]], he realizes bushwacking the Vietnam veteran isn't going to work. Anton immediately restructures his hunt to prioritize eliminating Moss' only way out: Wells and the man who hired him. He then threatens to kill his wife, in order to lure Moss to the nearest airport.
* YouKeepTellingYourselfThat: It practically defines the character of Anton Chigurh. The film version stresses this even further - [[spoiler:in the book, he manages to intimidate Carla Jean into calling the coin toss. In the film, we never see her break. She refuses to give him that 'out', and it's the closest he gets to a defeat.]]

The film was honored with numerous awards: it received three British Academy of Film awards, two Golden Globes, and {{Academy Award}}s for Best Picture (Scott Rudin, [[Creator/TheCoenBrothers Ethan and Joel Coen]]), Best Director ([[Creator/TheCoenBrothers Joel and Ethan Coen]]), Best Adapted Screenplay (by [[Creator/TheCoenBrothers Joel and Ethan Coen]]), and Best Supporting Actor (Javier Bardem).

* UselessProtagonist: Sheriff Bell. [[spoiler:He doesn't bother with investigating further after he fails to stop Chigurh.]]

* DarkerAndEdgier: Than anything the Coen Brothers did previously, even their debut ''BloodSimple''

[[folder]]

->''[[ImplacableMan You can't stop what's coming.]]''

!'''Contains examples of:'''

* KillThemAll: [[spoiler:Anton successfully eliminates all of the people he was hired to kill, as well as several that he wasn't.]]

** Chigurh is willing to [[spoiler:belittle and possibly kill a gas station attendant for ''trying to make small talk with him'']]. This only makes him more terrifying.

* EvilIsPetty: Chigurh is willing to [[spoiler:belittle and possibly kill a gas station attendant for ''trying to make small talk with him'']]. This only makes him more terrifying.

** [[spoiler:Unfortunately, Carla Jean's death is ambiguous only in the movie.]]

* ArbitraryGunPower: In RealLife, a cattle-gun would barely be able to DENT a [[spoiler: door-lock]], much less [[spoiler: blow it completely out of the door.]] Though one could argue that one of the most psychotic and dangerous people ever may have made a few accommodations to his main method of breaking into houses and killing victims.
* ActionSurvivor: Llewelyn Moss in some parts. [[spoiler: Not so much by the end.]]
* AloneWithThePsycho: Most characters in the story find themselves alone and helpless with Anton Chigurh. [[spoiler: No one ever shows up to rescue them]].

** It's never made explicit whether Chigurh killed [[spoiler: the hotel manager, the accountant, and Carla Jean, though he checks the soles of his shoes ''after'' leaving Carla Jean's home]];

* BlackAndGrayMorality: Chigurh versus Moss. Chigurh is a relentless, cold-blooded killer. Moss is impulsive and prideful, getting innocent people such as his wife in danger or killed as well as [[spoiler: leading to his own death.]]

* DespairEventHorizon: Bell just about crosses it [[spoiler: after the deaths of Llewelyn and Carla Jean]]. A conversation with his Uncle Ellis reminds him that criminality and senseless violence have always been part of life in the region. Bell's narration ends on an ambiguous note as he relates two dreams he had. (They seem to allude to CormacMcCarthy's masterpiece ''Literature/TheRoad''.)
* TheDeterminator: Pretty much ''all'' the men. [[spoiler: But Chigurh trumps everyone else.]]

* DownerEnding: Basically, [[spoiler:TheBadGuyWins]]. Not only [[spoiler: is the DecoyProtagonist murdered (off-screen),]] but then [[spoiler: the villain murders the hero's teenage wife (again, off-screen) and escapes justice, leaving an old man to contemplate his inability to act in the face of so much seemingly pointless violence of the world]].

** Also discussed when Chigurh is about to kill [[spoiler: Carson]].

** The death of [[spoiler: the man who hires Wells.]]

* KillThemAll: [[spoiler: Anton successfully eliminates all of the people he was hired to kill, as well as several that he wasn't.]]

* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler: Chigurh gets T-boned by a speeding car a few minutes after killing Carla Jean. While Chigurh's shown to have fixed his wounds before, the sort of fracture he receives is going to put him out of commission for a long while (if not permanently) without real medical aid.]]

* MacGuffin: Moss has a suitcase containing $2 million. Chigurh is hunting Moss to get the money. Bell is hunting Chigurh and simultaneously hunting Moss in hopes of getting him to safety. [[spoiler: Chigurh never catches up with Moss, and Bell never catches up with either Moss or Chigurh. Bell and Chigurh ''almost'' cross paths, but they never actually meet one another.]]

* MissedHimByThatMuch: Anton tracks Llewellyn via transponder to a motel room. While Anton is [[spoiler: violently eliminating the Mexicans occupying the room, Llewellyn is dragging the 50 lb. satchel through a ventilation duct in the opposite room. The gunfire and screaming mask the scraping sounds created by the bag.]] By the time Anton checks the vent, Llewellyn has left the motel and hitched a ride out of town.

* NoEnding: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]]. As noted above, [[spoiler: with the exceptions of Chigurh and Sheriff Bell, every major character dies.]] A quick shot reveals that [[spoiler: Chigurh had found the money in the ventilation system again, and left with the money]], but it goes by fast and is irrelevant to the story by this point.

** The build-up before [[spoiler: the hotel shootout between Llewelyn and Chigurh.]]
** Anton can even make a ''COIN FLIP'' absolutely terrifying.

* PlayAlongPrisoner: In his first scene, Anton Chigurh allows a deputy to arrest him, [[spoiler: slips his cuffs from back to front, kills the deputy, and steals a police car.]] All just to prove a point about supreme will.

* TakeAThirdOption: Subverted in the film. [[spoiler: Carla refuses to call the coin Chigurh flips for her (she does in the novel, but is wrong). He kills her anyway.]]

* UselessProtagonist: Sheriff Bell, who doesn't bother with investigating further
* VillainousBreakdown: Anton Chigurh arguably suffers a flicker of one when [[spoiler: Carla Jean refuses to call his coin toss, thus making her the first person in the film to take a stand in direct and face-to-face defiance of his "principles", and flat out states that his deference to "chance" is a thin excuse for him doing what he does.]] Even moreso in the book. [[spoiler: He apologizes (plainly, but still does) as she starts to sob, and starts to really having to defend his principles to her in order to go through with killing her.]]

* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: The duel between Chigurh and Moss is very different in the book and movie. In the movie, [[spoiler: When Chigurgh cracks the doorknob, it strikes Moss, who shoots back and flees. In the book, Moss turns on his bathroom light and hides in the dark, and when Chigurh inspects the bathroom, Moss holds him at gunpoint and escorts him down the hall with Chigurh facing away. He had the opportunity to kill him there, but is apparently reluctant to commit murder.]]
* WrongGenreSavvy: Llewelyn Moss. He refuses to accept that the world isn't as black and white as he believes it is and acts like he's a stereotypical action hero. [[spoiler: This flaw ends up getting him killed.]]
* YouKeepTellingYourselfThat: It practically defines the character of Anton Chigurh. The film version stresses this even further - [[spoiler: in the book, he manages to intimidate Carla Jean into calling the coin toss. In the film, we never see her break. She refuses to give him that 'out', and it's the closest he gets to a defeat.]]

* RealitySubtext: The book was written partly as the author's reaction to the sensation of escalating violence brought in by drug trafficking, starting in the early eighties and continuing to this day. To evoke this, the book and movie are {{Period Piece}}s. [[spoiler: The author's response to this feeling can possibly be seen in the Uncle's speech near the end, who outright states that things are not worse or better than the past, they just always feel that way to those living at that moment]].

** probably averted in the book. Bell offhandedly mentions that they can find Chigurh based off the description and compound fracture. He also mentions the cartel will just send another like him if he is caught.

* AntiHero: Moss is probably a Type IV. Bell gradually goes into [[ClassicalAntiHero Type I]].