History Literature / NoCountryForOldMen

* SeventiesHair: Chigurh's chin-length helmet-like hair. It only adds to his creepiness.

* FloatingHeadSyndrome: The DVD box set has a BIG case of this, which is especially annoying given how perfect the movie poster is for the film. I mean look at it up there.

* UncertainDoom: After Chigurh kills [[spoiler: the man who hired Wells]], the client with whom said man was speaking asks Chigurh what he'll do to him:
--> ''Client'': Are you going to shoot me?

* HeroKiller: Anton Chigurh murders [[spoiler: Carson Wells, Llewelyn Moss, and Carla Jean]].

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Played with. Llewellyn manages to take out one of the hitmen sent after him and sends the rest retreating in fear. Chigurh does kill his wife, but she defies his nonsensical logic - and shortly after, gets a bone fracture that he will not be able to treat himself - one that may wind up killing him later on.]]

'''Chigurh''': They say "you don't have to do this".

%% * HeroKiller: Anton Chigurh.

* HopeSpot: Chigurh's accident showed that he's not invincible, just really lucky.

* HeadsOrTails: Anton Chigurh flips a coin to decide whether to kill a potential victim. Those that choose not to take the chance are killed anyway, because they refuse to submit to the PowersThatBe. [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation Fans actually debate over the reason why he does it.]] [[spoiler:[[FaceDeathWithDignity Carla Jean refuses to play]], [[ShutUpHannibal refusing to blame the coin or fate for her possible death - simply Chigurh.]]

* TheGuardsMustBeCrazy: Moss simply walks over the US-Mexican border into Mexico, past the only Mexican night shift customs officer, who is asleep. TruthInTelevision however justifies this - you can indeed cross the border ''to'' Mexico without as much as a passport control, but getting ''back'' to the US is a '''totally''' different affair altogether.

* HeadsOrTails: Anton Chigurh flips a coin to decide whether to kill a potential victim. Those that choose not to take the chance are killed anyway, because they refuse to submit to the PowersThatBe. [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation Fans actually debate over the reason why he does it.]] [[spoiler:Carla Jean "wins" the toss in a twisted sort of way by deconstructing Chigurh's coin toss logic.]]

* BavarianFireDrill: In a particularly disturbing example, Chigurh steals a random passerby's pickup truck by pulling him over in a police car, and manages to get him to stand back completely complacent as he blows his brains out with a cattle bolt

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: This is 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.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Moreso than anything the Coen Brothers did previously, even their debut ''Film/BloodSimple''

* FollowTheLeader: The Coen Brothers admitted they had to work ''hard'' to make sure the film was distinguishable from ''Film/TheTerminator''.

'''''No Country for Old Men''''' is a 2005 neo-western thriller novel by Creator/CormacMcCarthy, a grizzled old man who refuses to discuss his books beyond their often disturbing content. In 2007 it was adapted into a film written and directed by Creator/TheCoenBrothers -- two oddballs with a great sense of black humor and a love for twisted storylines -- and the result was a breathtaking and chillingly eerie film that's considerably bleaker than anything else they've done.

--> [[spoiler:Moss's]] death is a notably subverted in drama, as it happens off screen. Though in the book, the gun battle with the cartel is actually described vividly by a police officer after the fact, and it's pretty damn dramatic how it went down.

* CrapsackWorld: Sheriff Bell seems to believe that this is what the world is becoming, as does his friend in El Paso, who complains about [[TheNewRockAndRoll teens coloring their hair and wearing nose rings]]. His old mentor later sets him straight. The world isn't becoming a crapsack, it's always been that way.

There's just one small hitch: an assassin has been sent after the stolen money, and he is ''a complete sociopath''. Anton Chigurh (Creator/JavierBardem) is a man willing to do ''absolutely anything'' -- to "[[{{Ubermensch}} follow a supreme act of will]]", as [[BlueAndOrangeMorality he puts it]] -- in order to get what he is after... and it's no longer just the money he's after.

There's just one small hitch: an assassin has been sent after the stolen money, and he is ''a complete sociopath''. Anton Chigurh (Creator/JavierBardem) is a man willing to do ''absolutely anything'' -- to "[[{{Ubermensch}} follow a supreme act of will]]", as [[BlueAndOrangeMorality he puts it]] -- in order to get what he is after...and it's no longer just the money he's after.

When rugged Vietnam veteran Llewelyn Moss (played in the film by Creator/JoshBrolin) 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 (Creator/TommyLeeJones), 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.

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.

There's just one small hitch: an assassin has been sent after the stolen money, and he is ''a complete sociopath''. Anton Chigurh is a man willing to do ''absolutely anything'' -- to "[[{{Ubermensch}} follow a supreme act of will]]", as [[BlueAndOrangeMorality he puts it]] -- in order to get what he is after...and it's no longer just the money he's after.

The film was honored with numerous awards: it received three British Academy of Film awards, two Golden Globes, and UsefulNotes/{{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).

'''''No Country for Old Men''''' is a 2005 neo-western thriller novel by Creator/CormacMcCarthy, a grizzled old man who refuses to discuss his books beyond their often disturbing content. In 2007 it was adapted into a film 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.

'''''No Country for Old Men''''' is a 2007 neo-western thriller and adaptation of the 2005 novel by Creator/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.

''No Country for Old Men'' is a neo-western thriller and adaptation of the novel by Creator/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.

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

* CarnivalOfKillers

* GoodOlBoy: Carson Wells, among others.

* HeroKiller: Anton Chigurh.

* IfIDoNotReturn

* NewOldWest
* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: Anton Chigurh.

* ProfessionalKiller[=/=]PsychoForHire: Both Anton Chigurh and Carson Wells are assassins-for-hire and psychopathic, but Chigurh ''far'' outstrips Wells in the latter aspect.

* SceneryPorn: See SceneryGorn, above.
* SeventiesHair: Chigurh's chin-length helmet-like hair. It only adds to his creepiness.

* YouLookFamiliar: Creator/TommyLeeJones, Creator/JoshBrolin, and several minor cast members would also appear in ''Film/InTheValleyOfElah'', released the same year. Both films were also shot by the same DP, Roger Deakins.

* ChessWithDeath: In a couple instances, Chigurh lets a coin toss decide whether or not he'll kill someone. [[spoiler:Carla Jean "wins" in a twisted sort of way by deconstructing Chigurh's coin toss logic.]]

* HeadsOrTails: Anton Chigurh flips a coin to decide whether to kill a potential victim. Those that choose not to take the chance are killed anyway, because they refuse to submit to the PowersThatBe. [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation Fans actually debate over the reason why he does it.]]

* ThirteenIsUnlucky: In the scene where Wells gets hired at the "corporate office", he makes a comment about counting the floors to the building and there being one missing. This is in reference to the practice of skipping floor "13" in larger buildings because the number is considered unlucky. Of course, there still is a thirteenth floor in the building, it's only the label that's changed. It's a subtle indication that the people at the top of the organization are kidding themselves about what they can control.