History Literature / NoCountryForOldMen

-->'''Llewelyn Moss:''' Yeah, I'm going to bring you something, alright. I decided to make you a special project of mine. [[BringIt You ain't going have to come looking for me at all.]]
* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: Chigurh's one is a bizarre mix of Bardem's natural Spanish, West Texan, Transylvanian, and something like ''Martian''. He sounds like an alien trying to imitate a human accent, and failing spectacularly.

* ActorAllusion: A very dark example. When ruminating on the state of the world in the book, Sheriff Bell references the recent murder of a federal judge. The murder occurred in real life and was committed by hitman Charles Harrelson, father of Creator/WoodyHarrelson ([[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer yes, really]]), who plays Wells in the movie.
* AgonyOfTheFeet: A brief scene in the clothing store's bathroom, when Llewelyn pulls his socks off, shows extensive blistering on his feet from his old boots.

* DisapprovingLook: Creator/TommyLeeJones' famous "Implied Facepalm" given to one of his deputies -- in context, it's both annoyance at the gung-ho of the Deputy trying to get Bell off his ass and investigating the crime scene, and the fact the other agencies on scene are just as gung-ho.

* GenreBusting: A specialty of Creator/TheCoenBrothers. Each of the main characters' stories seems to inhabit its own genre: Chigurh is the killer in a slasher movie, Ed Tom Bell is in a Western, and Moss is in a gritty crime thriller.

* {{Gorn}}:
** The [[Creator/TheCoenBrothers Coen brothers]] said themselves they wanted to make the "strangling" scene in the beginning the most violent strangling in the history of movies.
** The unfortunate random passerby whose only crime was letting Moss into his pickup suffers one of the most gruesome deaths in the movie.
** The death of [[spoiler:the man who hires Wells.]]
** Then there's the guy in the hotel whose arm gets ''obliterated'' by Chigurh's weapon.
* GoryDiscretionShot: Several; in one instance, a discretion cut moves to a later scene.

* MissingFloor: 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 [[ThirteenIsUnlucky "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.
* MoodWhiplash: The entire scene with the mariachi band -- they wake up Llewelyn from his tense firefight with Chigurh with their music, and [[LettingTheAirOutOfTheBand stop when they see his blood-covered shirt.]]
* {{Narrator}}: In the novel, Sheriff Ed Tom Bell. In the movie, he narrates the opening, and in his closing scenes, his dialogue becomes more and more like narration.

** This movie manages to make the act of ''unscrewing a lightbulb'' frightening.

* SceneryGorn: From the shots of the barren, desolate Texas landscape to the long pans over dead bodies in the early stages of decay, this movie has it in spades.

* SlasherSmile: Chigurh sports one during the strangling scene; it's the most emotion he shows in the entire movie.

** In the opening scene, the cop turns his back to Chigurh, confidently saying the situation's under control. Not two ''seconds'' later, Chigurh brutally kills the cop using just his handcuffs, and escapes the precinct.

'''Chigurh:''' [[HeadsIWinTailsYouLose That depends]]: [[YouDidntSeeThat do you]] [[IWasNeverHere see me?]]\\
''[cut to new scene]''

* VillainousBreakdown: A subtle example when Chigurh is badly wounded unexpectedly in a car accident. He looks shocked, and tells the boys at the scene he needs to sit and get his bearings for a while. Then he practically begs the boys for a shirt and help to make a sling for his broken arm, followed by giving them a generous tip for the help. All very out of character for Chigurh, showing us he's not as powerful as he thinks.

* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: The duel between Chigurh and Moss is very different in the book and movie. In the movie, [[spoiler:when Chigurh 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 has the opportunity to kill him right there, but is apparently reluctant to commit murder.]]

But for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, and the men behind the deal have sent ruthless hitman Anton Chigurh (Creator/JavierBardem) to retrieve the briefcase. Chigurh is a man willing to do ''[[TheUnfettered absolutely anything]]'' -- to "[[{{Ubermensch}} follow a supreme act of will]]," [[BlueAndOrangeMorality as he puts it]] -- in order to achieve his aims... and it's no longer just the money he's after.

The film was honored with numerous awards: 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 (the Coen brothers), Best Adapted Screenplay (the Coen brothers), and Best Supporting Actor (Bardem).

This film was one of two collaborations of Creator/{{Paramount}} Vantage and Creator/{{Miramax}} released in 2007 alongside ''Film/ThereWillBeBlood'', itself nominated for multiple awards. At the time, Miramax was owned by Creator/{{Disney}}. Miramax was subsequently sold to Filmyard Holdings in 2010, then to [=beIN=] Media Group in 2016. Four years later, Paramount acquired a minority stake in Miramax, and now holds the worldwide rights to all films it had co-produced with Miramax (except for ''Film/SlidingDoors'', which is now owned by Creator/ShoutFactory), along with the rest of the Miramax library.

** The film then intentionally sets up a [[spoiler:fight between Chigurh and Sheriff Bell instead, but Chigurh runs off and Bell never meets him]].

* ArtisticLicenseLawEnforcement: In the film, the deputy who arrests Chigurh at the beginning simply has him sit in a chair, then turns him back on him and makes a phone call. This allows Chigurh to bend forward, slip his cuffed hands under his feet so that his hands are in front of him, then choke the deputy to death. In reality, he would have immediately been placed in a holding cell.
* TheAtoner: Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, mostly in the book; just hinted at in TheFilmOfTheBook.

* CreatorThumbprint: For the film. Even though this movie shocked many audiences in 2007 by being considerably DarkerAndEdgier than most of the [[Creator/TheCoenBrothers Coens]]' previous films, it still bears several of their signature elements: it's set in the recent past (the early 1980s), it's about a crime gone awry (the botched drug deal), and it features a seemingly emotionless ImplacableMan with an embarrassing haircut (Chigurh).

* DarkerAndEdgier: ...than anything the [[Creator/CoenBrothers Coen brothers]] had done previously, even their debut ''Film/BloodSimple''.

* DiabolusExNihilo: Played very, very straight with Anton Chigurh. He spends the first act of the film terrorizing townsfolk for reasons that are never really discussed. As the second act begins, he's instantly involved in the plot without a word of explanation. We don't even know who's employing him, and the people the audience thinks are employing him get blown away.

** Carla Jean, in the film.

* FreshClue: In the film, while Sheriff Ed Tom Bell is investigating Llewelyn Moss' trailer, he notices condensation on a bottle of milk. The killer they're tracking had left the milk there less than an hour ago. Unfortunately, this doesn't really help them find the killer ''now''.
-->'''Ed Tom Bell:''' Now that's aggravatin'.\\
'''Wendell:''' Sheriff?\\
'''Bell:''' ''[points to a bottle of milk]'' Still sweatin'.\\
'''Wendell:''' Whoa, Sheriff! We just missed him! We gotta circulate this! On radio!\\
'''Bell:''' Alright. What do we circulate? "Lookin' for a man who has recently drunk milk?"

* HardTruthAesop: Delivered to the sheriff near the end of the film: you can't stop bad things. Or more specifically, you can't when you've gotten too old and the world has changed from when you were younger and ''could'' stop them.

** Moss going half the movie after acquiring the money before finding the transponder in the bag with the money. He never even decided to search the bag to ''count'' the money? Of course, this is done because otherwise the film would be much, much shorter. Related, the drug cartel's plan to keep tabs on the money by using the transponder in the first place. They couldn't have predicted that if things went south with the drug deal, that the person who ended up with the money would just ditch the bag like Moss did.
* IGaveMyWord: A dark example. When they briefly connect over the phone, Chigurh demands that Moss surrender himself and the money, or else he'll track down and murder his wife Carla Jean. Moss, predictably, refuses the ultimatum. [[spoiler:At the end of the film, even though Moss is dead and Chigurh has already recovered the cash, he shows up at her house and makes good on his promise, using this exact justification.]]

* ImproperlyPlacedFirearms:
** In one scene, Chigurh uses a Glock 19 pistol. The movie takes place in 1980, but Glock pistols were not produced until 1983, and the 19 specifically didn't arrive until 1988.
** His Remington 11-87 wouldn't be introduced until 1987.
** At one point, Llewelyn acquires a Heckler & Koch [=SP89=], which per its name wasn't produced until 1989. It's standing in for the full-auto [=MP5k=] mentioned by name in the book, which did exist by the time of the film's setting.
* InfoDrop: In the film, the date is revealed from the fact that a 1958 coin "has traveled 22 years to get here." Llewelyn's phone bill and Agnes' tombstone also bear the year.

** 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.

* LettingTheAirOutOfTheBand: Used in the mariachi band scene for one of the few moments of overt comic relief in the film.

* NeverTrustATrailer: The trailer makes the film look like a tough action film, and alludes to a final confrontation between Wells and Chigurh. Those who have seen the film know that the trailer couldn't be less like it.

* MeaningfulAppearance: Throughout the movie, cowboy boots are heavily focused on, whether it's through the frequent shots of Anton Chigurh's or having an entire scene devoted to Llewelyn buying them, with this fixation emphasizing the NewOldWest atmosphere of the film as a whole.

* PragmaticAdaptation: The style in which the novel is written would seem to be difficult to adapt to film, but the Coens manage to do it justice by translating [=McCarthy=]'s stark language into stark imagery and audio design. This resulted in it being one of the few films that is widely regarded to be superior to the book. It helps that the book was originally written as a screenplay to begin with.

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

* ShootTheShaggyDog: The climax of the film is starkly anticlimactic, causing many to debate whether it's a brilliant {{deconstruction}} or an insulting cop-out.

* ShownTheirWork: A very well done one that averts GunsDoNotWorkThatWay. In the scene where Moss goes back to give water to the dying man (pointless, as the man is already dead when he arrives), drug dealers find him and set their dog on him. This forces Moss to swim across the river to escape, with the pit bull swimming after him. When he reaches the other side, he knows he can't outrun the dog and doesn't even try. A thousand other action movies would have him simply whip out his gun and shoot the dog. Not here. Moss knows his gun is soaking wet and has to be cleared before he can attempt to fire it, and goes through the correct procedure to do so. Keep in mind that he does all of the following under extreme pressure, as the dog is getting out of the water and coming after him. He racks the slide, ejecting the cartridge in the chamber, which had the most exposure to the water. He ejects the magazine, allowing as much water as possible to drain from the gun while simultaneously shaking the magazine to get the water out of it. He then blows several times into the barrel and the magazine receiver to clear water from them. Water does ''not'' compress, so any droplets of water in the barrel could very well have the gun blowing up in his face. After all this, he reinserts the magazine, chambers a round, and shoots the dog just as it is leaping at him. Total elapsed time from starting to clear the gun to shooting the dog: ten seconds.

** Gunshots are not something you can easily shrug off, even if you are a trained veteran or an unstoppable killing machine. Both Llewelyn and Chigurh have to carefully treat bullet wounds they get, and the effects are felt for the rest of the film.

* WhenIWasYourAge: One of the big tropes of the film, and one that's ultimately defied. Sheriff Bell feels that the world is more violent than when he was young, and doesn't want to face it. But as his mentor tells him in the end, the world's always been violent, and it's vanity on his part to think it's changing just 'cause ''he's'' getting older.
** FridgeLogic sets in when you realize that Bell is probably a fan of Westerns. The average Western is oodles more violent than 1980s Texas. He'd probably get over himself if he just sat down and watched Film/TheSearchers.

* XanatosSpeedChess: The film is essentially a three-way game between Moss, Chigurh, and Bell.

* 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.]]

----
->''"Anywhere not in your pocket. Or it'll get mixed in with the others, and become just a coin... Which it is."''

* GoodCannotComprehendEvil: A major theme of the story, embodied by Sheriff Bell.

* ActorAllusion: A very dark example. When ruminating on the state of the world in the book, Sheriff Bell references the recent murder of a federal judge. The murder occurred in real life and was committed by hitman Charles Harrelson, father of Creator/WoodyHarrelson ([[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer yes, really), who plays Wells in the movie.

* ActorAllusion: A very dark example. When ruminating on the state of the world in the book, Sheriff Bell references the recent murder of a federal judge. The murder occurred in real life and was committed by hitman Charles Harrelson, father of Creator/WoodyHarrelson, who plays Wells in the movie.

** Then there's the guy in the hotel whose arm gets ''obliterated'' by Chigurh's WeaponOfChoice.

* ShownTheirWork: A very well done one that averts GunsDoNotWorkThatWay. In the scene where Moss goes back to give water to the dying man (pointless, as the the man is already dead when he arrives), drug dealers find him and set their dog on him. This forces Moss to swim across the river to escape, with the pit bull swimming after him. When he reaches the other side, he knows he can't outrun the dog and doesn't even try. A thousand other action movies would have him simply whip out his gun and shoot the dog. Not here. Moss knows his gun is soaking wet and has to be cleared before he can attempt to fire it, and goes through the correct procedure to do so. Keep in mind that he does all of the following under extreme pressure, as the dog is getting out of the water and coming after him. He racks the slide, ejecting the cartridge in the chamber, which had the most exposure to the water. He ejects the magazine, allowing as much water as possible to drain from the gun while simultaneously shaking the magazine to get the water out of it. He then blows several times into the barrel and the magazine receiver to clear water from them. Water does ''not'' compress, so any droplets of water in the barrel could very well have the gun blowing up in his face. After all this, he reinserts the magazine, chambers a round, and shoots the dog just as it is leaping at him. Total elapsed time from starting to clear the gun to shooting the dog: ten seconds.

* AxCrazy: Anton Chigurh is a subversion. He has his reasons, and he's more coldly logical than crazy. He does, however, have one of the primary traits of a true AxCrazy, which is the immense amount of danger involved in engaging with him.

* 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.

--> '''Llewelyn:''' If I don't come back, tell Mother I love her.\\

--> '''Carla Jean:''' You don't have to do this.\\

--> Keep it up.\\

* UncannyValley: Anton Chigurh, good lord. There's nothing outwardly odd about his looks, but between Javier Bardem's chilling performance, the freaky [[BlueAndOrangeMorality moral code]] he goes by, the [[FashionVictimVillain bizarre haircut]], and [[WhatTheHellIsThatAccent undefinable accent]], he comes across less like an assassin and more like an alien imitating a human being. Which is a big part of what makes him so unspeakably terrifying.

* WeaponOfChoice:
** Bell uses a revolver for a service pistol.
** Chigurh carries a captive bolt pistol wherever he goes and also has a silenced shotgun to sneak up on targets with.

--> '''Chigurh''': What business is it of yours where I'm from...friendo?
* DeathIsDramatic: [[spoiler:Moss's]] death is a notable subversion 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.

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

** Moss is clever enough to keep making plans after he realizes he's being hunted (and how). Notably, he's the ''only'' one of Chigurh's targets that the latter fails to trap/kill with minimal effort. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, Moss's cleverness isn't quite enough, even if it's not Chigurh who nails him in the end.]]
** When Anton Chigurh [[spoiler:is outsmarted and injured by Moss outside the Eagle Motel]], he realizes bushwhacking 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.

* NiceShoes: Throughout the movie, cowboy boots are heavily focused on, whether it's through the frequent shots of Anton Chigurh's or having an entire scene devoted to Llewelyn buying them, with this fixation emphasizing the NewOldWest atmosphere of the film as a whole.

But for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, and the men behind the deal have sent ruthless hitman Anton Chigurh (Creator/JavierBardem) to retrieve the briefcase. Chigurh is a man willing to do ''[[TheUnfettered absolutely anything]]'' -- to "[[{{Ubermensch}} follow a supreme act of will]]", [[BlueAndOrangeMorality as he puts it]] -- in order to achieve his aims... and it's no longer just the money he's after.

** It's never made explicit whether Chigurh killed [[spoiler: the accountant]].

* TheCartel: Real-life drug kingpin Pablo Acosta's Juarez Cartel is one of the two parties involved in the drug deal gone wrong. [[spoiler: Their hitmen eventually kill Moss.]]

* CounterfeitCash: [[PlayingWithATrope Downplayed]]: the money [[spoiler: within the briefcase]] is certainly authentic, but its setup is misleading, [[spoiler: as one layer below the top row of bundles of hundreds is a row with bundles of ones, including a bundle with a slot cut inside it to store a tracker]].

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

* TheEighties: Set in 1980; since it's the beginning of the decade, and the setting is rural Texas, there isn't much stereotypical '80s fashion. Chigurh's rather out-of-place garb (alligator skin boots, denim jacket...) could be leftover fashion from the '70s, not to mention his haircut. There's no '80s pop soundtrack either; it's mostly eerie sound effects or silence.

* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Stephen Root's character is credited as "Man Who Hires Wells".

** The accountant seems remarkably unfazed considering Chigurh has just killed the only other man in the room with him; he just calmly asks if he's going to die next. [[spoiler: But, it's entirely possible he survives, as we never do see the results of the conversation.]]
* FluffyTheTerrible: {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d; "Chigurh" is pronounced almost like "sugar". Then there's his sense of fashion...

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

--> '''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".

* LoveAtFirstSight: A rare sweet moment when Carla Jean describes to Sheriff Bell how she met Moss. Moss simply walked into the store in which she worked, he said hello, and "that was all she wrote".

* MissingFloor: 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 [[ThirteenIsUnlucky "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.

* NostalgiaAintLikeItUsedToBe: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with.]] Sheriff Bell often muses about how someone like Chigurh wouldn't have gotten away with anything in the "old days", but this claim is undermined at the end when his uncle Ellis tells him a tale of how his grandfather was killed in cold blood on his own porch in 1909 by a trio of Native Americans, and then says to him flat out that claiming the "old days" were better or more moral is nothing but vanity.

-->'''Owner''': Will there be something else?\\
'''Chigurh''': I don't know, will there?\\
'''Owner''': Is something wrong?\\
'''Chigurh''': With what?\\
'''Owner''': With anything.\\
'''Chigurh''': Is that what you're asking me? Is there something wrong with anything?\\
'''Owner''': Will there be anything else?\\
'''Chigurh''': You already asked me that.\\
'''Owner''': Well, I need to see about closing now.\\
'''Chigurh''': See about closing?\\
'''Owner''': Yes, sir.\\
'''Chigurh''': What time do you close?\\
'''Owner''': Now. We close now.\\
'''Chigurh''': Now is not a time. What time do you close?\\
'''Owner''': Generally around dark. At dark.\\
'''Chigurh''': ({{beat}}) You don't know what you're talking about, do you?

* RiddleForTheAges: [[spoiler: Is Chigurh really hiding in the hotel room where Moss was killed when Bell decides to check it, or does Bell, after noticing that the knob is missing, just imagine that Chigurh is there, ready to ambush him? At first sight, it would appear to be the former (Bell never actually meets Chigurh, so it would make no sense for him to "imagine" him exactly as he looked like), however, some elements point to the latter. (When Bell opens the door, it appears that behind it there would be no space for Chigurh to hide. Also, the air tank that Chigurh uses to carry around to pry doors open is nowhere to be seen, hinting that Chigurh may have already left.) According to those who have read it, not even the script provides a clear answer about that]].
* RuleOfThree: Chigurh doesn't like getting blood on his boots, which we see three times: the first time in the hotel room when he shoots the Mexicans (while in sock feet). The second time, after [[spoiler: he shoots Wells]], he puts his feet up as he's on the phone with Llewelyn. The third time, as he's coming out of Carla Jean's mother's house, proof that [[spoiler: he also killed Carla Jean]].

* SurpriseCarCrash: One is used as part of its AntiClimax ending. After [[spoiler: Anton Chigurh kills Carla Jean and drives off before the police arrive, his car is struck down by another vehicle as he is leaving the neighborhood. Chigurh is as much a victim of circumstance as anyone else]].

** Moss phones Wells, [[spoiler: only to find him dead]]. When Chigurh speaks with him, Moss confidently asserts he has found a way to beat him without involving his wife. [[spoiler: Moss goes to a motel to prepare, and he ends up dead, not even by Chigurh himself, but the Mexican mobsters looking for the money.]]

* UncertainDoom: After Chigurh kills [[spoiler: the man who hired Wells]], the accountant with whom said man was speaking asks Chigurh what he'll do to him:

** FridgeLogic sets in when you realize that Bell is probably a fan of Westerns. The average Western is oodles more violent than 1980's Texas. He'd probably get over himself if he just sat down and watched Film/TheSearchers.

-->'''Carson Wells:''' You can't make a deal with him. Even if you gave him the money he'd still kill you just for troubling him. He's a peculiar man.

The place is West Texas; the year, 1980. 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. A cynical old 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.

* ActorAllusion: A very dark example. When ruminating on the state of the world, Sheriff Bell references the recent murder of a federal judge. The murder occurred in real life and was committed by hitman Charles Harrelson, father of Creator/WoodyHarrelson who plays Wells.
* AgonyOfTheFeet: A brief scene in the clothing store's bathroom, when Llewelyn pulls his socks off, shows the extensive blistering on his feet from his old boots.

* 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.

** The story seeming builds towards [[spoiler:a final showdown between Moss and Chigurh, but the cartel [[KilledOffScreen kills Moss offscreen]]]].

* AntiHero: Moss is probably a NominalHero. Bell gradually goes into KnightInSourArmor.
* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler:Come the finale, the only major characters not seen dead are Ed Tom and Chigurh.]]

* TheAtoner: Sheriff Ed Tom Bell. Mostly in the book; just hinted at in TheFilmOfTheBook.

* BeigeProse: The novel.
* BigBadEnsemble: Anton Chigurh, the Juarez Cartel and the Matacumbe Petroleum Group are all after the money and willing to kill for it (moreso the former two, mind). One could argue that Moss is a VillainProtagonist, too, since he is, after all, ultimately just a thief who robs a bunch of dead men (and endangers his family while he's at it), though he is easily the least reprehensible of the bunch.

* BilingualBonus: When Moss gets woken up by the Mariachis the song they're playing translates to: "You wanted to fly with no wings/ You wanted to touch heaven/ You wanted many riches/ You wanted to play with fire/ And now that -"
* 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.]]

* BusCrash: The entire story seems to be building towards a climactic duel between Moss and Chigurh, but in the end [[spoiler:Moss is killed off-screen by a gang of Mexican drug runners]]. A deliberate [[SubvertedTrope subversion]] of DeathIsDramatic (see above).
* CaptainObvious: After Chigurh gets T-boned, one of the kids on bicycles states the obvious fact that Chigurh has a bone sticking out of his arm. In fact, he states it twice. Then again, he's probably more concerned that Chigurh's showing a disturbing ''lack'' of alarm about his injury.
* CarnivalOfKillers: Not only Chigurh, but Harrelson's character, and the random hitmen Chigurh kills.

* ConscienceMakesYouGoBack: Moss finds a dying man asking for water when he first reaches the shootout. He leaves without helping, but his conscience prickles him later at home, so he returns to the shootout scene to bring the man water... Which is a mistake, and kickstarts the plot.
* 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]].
* CounterfeitCash: [[PlayingWithATrope Downplayed]]: the money [[spoiler: within the briefcase]] is certainly authentic, but its setup is misleading [[spoiler: as one layer below the top row of bundles of "hundred"'s is a row with bundles of "one"'s, including a bundle with a slot cut inside it to store a tracker]].
* CrapsackWorld: Sheriff Bell seems to believe that this is what the world is becoming, as does his friend in El Paso, who complains about 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.
* CrazyPrepared: Moss goes to some trouble setting up a proper hideout and trying to preempt his enemy's attacks. [[ProperlyParanoid If it were not for his quick thinking and planning]], he would have been killed very quickly.
* CreatorThumbprint: For the film. Even though this movie shocked many audiences in 2007 by being considerably DarkerAndEdgier than most of the [[Creator/TheCoenBrothers Coens]]' previous films, it still bears several of their signature elements: it's set in the recent past (the early 1980's), it's about a crime gone awry (the botched drug deal), and it features a seemingly emotionless ImplacableMan with an embarrassing haircut (Chigurh).
* CreepyMonotone: Chigurh speaks in this, although the slight intonation he does have at times carries almost palpable menace.
* DarkerAndEdgier: ... than anything the [[Creator/CoenBrothers Coen brothers]] did previously, even their debut ''Film/BloodSimple''

* DeathIsDramatic: [[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.
* {{Deconstruction}}: Moss 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, either to himself or those around him. Like Sheriff Bell, Moss is an archetype of an era that never existed when men never gave in to bad guys, the lines of black and white were clear, and the hero gets to ride off into the sunset when it's over. He doesn't seem to realize that the world is and has always been a much darker place where men like that have no place. [[spoiler:Unlike Bell, he never realizes and pays the ultimate price for his arrogance.]]

* DiabolusExNihilo: Played very, very straight with Anton Chigurh. He spends the first act of the film terrorizing the townsfolk for reasons that are never really discussed. As the second act begins, he's instantly involved in the plot without a word of explanation. We don't even know who's employing him, and the people the audience thinks are employing him get blown away.
* {{Determinator}}: ''All'' the men. [[spoiler:But Chigurh trumps everyone else; ''nothing'', not even potentially crippling injuries, keep him down for long.]]

* DisapprovingLook: Creator/TommyLeeJones' famous "Implied Facepalm" given to one of his deputies - in context, it's both annoyance at the gung-ho of the Deputy trying to get Bell off his ass and investigating the crime scene, and the fact the other agencies on scene are just as gung-ho.

* DownerEnding: Not only [[spoiler:is the Deuteragonist murdered (off-screen)]], but then [[spoiler:the villain murders the hero's 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. On a slightly brighter note, we see that Chigurh is himself not immune to the impartiality of the universe. While he survives the film, he winds up wounded and without his money. The novel also implies that the police are still tracking down Chigurh, indicating that soon will be caught]].

* TheEighties: Set in 1980; since it's the beginning of the decade, and the setting is rural Texas, there isn't much of stereotypical '80s fashion. Chigurh's rather out-of-place garb (alligator skin boots, denim jacket...) could be leftover fashion from the '70s, not to mention his haircut. There's no '80s pop soundtrack either; it's mostly eerie sound effects or silence.

** The Accountant seems remarkably unfazed considering Chigurh has just killed the only other man in the room with him; he just calmly asks if he's going to die next. [[spoiler: But it's entirely possible he survives, as we never do see the results of the conversation.]]

* FreshClue: In the film, Sheriff Ed Tom Bell is investigating Llewelyn Moss' trailer and notices condensation on a bottle of milk. The killer they're tracking had left the milk there less than an hour ago. Unfortunately, this doesn't really help them find the killer ''now''.

'''Wendell:''' Whoa, Sheriff! We just missed him! We gotta circulate this! On Radio!\\

* GenreBusting: A specialty of Creator/TheCoenBrothers.

%% * GoodOlBoy: Carson Wells, among others.

* TheGuardsMustBeCrazy: Moss simply walks over the US-Mexican border into Mexico, past the only Mexican night shift customs officer, who is asleep. TruthInTelevision however [[JustifiedTrope 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:[[FaceDeathWithDignity Carla Jean refuses to play]], [[ShutUpHannibal refusing to blame the coin or fate for what she believes is her inevitable death - simply Chigurh]].]]
* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler:Moss himself at the end.]]

** Moss going back to give the dying man water (when he's likely already dead at that point) which is what sets the chase in motion. He even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this when he says he's about to do something really stupid.
** Moss going half the movie after acquiring the money before finding the transponder in the bag with the money. He never even decided to search the bag to ''count'' the money? Of course, this is done because otherwise the film would be much, much shorter. Related, the drug cartel's plan to keep tabs on the money by using the transponder in the first place. They couldn't have predicted that if things went south with the drug deal, that the person who ended up with the money would just leave the bag alone like Moss did.
* IGaveMyWord: A dark example. When they briefly connect over the phone, Chigurh demands that Moss surrender himself and the money, or else he'll track down and murder his wife Carla Jean. Moss, predictably, refuses the ultimatum. [[spoiler:At the end of the film, even though Moss is dead and Chigurh has already recovered the cash, he shows up at her house and makes good on his promise.]]

--> '''Llewelyn:''' If I don't come back, tell mother I love her.\\

** In one scene, Chigurh uses a Glock 19 pistol. The movie takes place in 1980, but Glock pistols were not produced until 1983 and the 19 specifically didn't arrive until 1988.

** Llewelyn at one point acquires a Heckler & Koch [=SP89=], which per its name wasn't produced until 1989. It's standing in for the full-auto [=MP5k=] mentioned by name in the book, which did exist by the time of the film's setting.
* InfoDrop: In the film, the date is revealed from the fact that a 1958 coin "has traveled 22 years to get here". Llewelyn's phone bill and Agnes' tombstone also bear the year.

** 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. Llewelyn did it earlier after getting wounded by Anton, asking three college-age kids for a coat in exchange for a lot of money.
** 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.

* KarmaHoudini: Played with. [[spoiler:Llewelyn's killers get away just as Bell gets there, but he managed to kill one and sent the rest running in fear.]] Later, [[spoiler:Chigurh does kill his wife, but she defies his nonsensical logic. Shortly after, a car slams into him, apparently killing him, but he manages to get out and escape after bribing some kids nearby to keep quiet - many critics saw this as a clean getaway, but even with his medical knowledge, the injuries he received are not treatable by himself, and are very likely to put him out of commission, if not kill him.]] It's spelled out further in the book, where [[spoiler:one of the kids rats him out and the sheriffs know where he's going.]]
* KilledOffscreen: Happens to both, [[spoiler:Llewelyn and Carla Jean]].

* LoveAtFirstSight: A rare sweet moment when Carla Jean describes to Sheriff Bell how she met Moss. Moss simply walked into the store in which she worked, he said hello and "that was all she wrote".

* MissedHimByThatMuch: Anton tracks Llewelyn via transponder to a motel room. While Anton is [[spoiler:violently eliminating the Mexicans occupying the room, Llewelyn 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, Llewelyn has left the motel and hitched a ride out of town.

* MoodWhiplash: The entire scene with the mariachi band - they wake up Llewelyn from his tense firefight with Chigurh, and [[LettingTheAirOutOfTheBand stop when they see his blood-covered shirt.]]

* NeverTrustATrailer: The trailer makes the film look like a tough action film and alludes to a final confrontation between Wells and Chigurh. Those who have seen the film know that the trailer couldn't be less like it.

** Ed Tom Bell is TheSheriff who is trying to stop Moss and Chigurh but is too apathetic to be anything more than a PinballProtagonist.

* 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. Further, [[spoiler:Chigurh is grievously wounded - in the novel, it's taken further, where the sheriffs will continue tracking him.]]

--> Said he knew he was goin' to hell. Told it to me out of his own mouth. I don't know what to make of that. I surely don't. I thought I'd never seen a person like that and it got me to wonderin' if maybe he was some new kind. I watched them strap him into the seat and shut the door. He might've looked a bit nervous about it but that was about all. I really believe that he knew he was goin' to be in hell in fifteen minutes... He was not hard to talk to. [[AffablyEvil Called me Sheriff]]. But I didn't know what to say to him. [[TheSoulless What do you say to a man that by his own admission has no soul]]?

* OminousWalk: Anton Chigurh uses this quite a bit.
* ParrotExposition: Chigurh, especially so during the Gas Station scene:

'''Chigurh''': (beat) You don't know what you're talking about, do you?
* PetTheDog: Llewelyn goes back to the scene of the gunfight with a full carton of water, out of sympathy for the driver he refused to help earlier ("I ain't got no damn agua") who was probably dead anyway.
* PileBunker: Chigurh's weapon of choice.

* PoliceAreUseless: The cops are either shot or are too late - and even then, Ed Tom is either unwilling or unable to do more, such as help federals and DEA agents with investigating the bizarre murder scene. [[spoiler:In the end, he decides he's had enough after Llewelyn is killed right before he manages to reach him.]]
* PragmaticAdaptation: The style in which the novel is written would seem to be difficult to adapt to film, but the Coens manage to do it justice by translating [=McCarthy=]'s stark language into stark imagery and audio design. This resulted in it being one of the few films that is widely regarded to be superior to the book.

* QuieterThanSilence: Due to there being almost no music prior to the closing credits, the audience can hear a lot of environmental sounds like wind and footsteps, when characters aren't talking or shooting.
* 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.
* RiddleForTheAges: [[spoiler: Was really Chigurh hiding in the hotel room where Moss was killed when Bell decided to check it, or Bell, after noticing that the knob was missing, was just imagining that Chigurh may have been there ready to ambush him? At first sight, it would appear to be the former (Bell never actually met Chigurh, so it would make no sense for him to "imagine him" exactly as he looked like), however, some elements points to the latter (when Bell opens the door, it appears that behind it there would be no space for Chigurh to hide. Also, the air tank that Chigurh uses to carry around to pry doors open is nowhere to be seen, hinting that Chigurh may have already left). According to those who read it, not even the script provides a clear answer about that]].
* RuleOfThree: Anton doesn't like getting blood on his boots, which we see three times: the first time in the hotel room when he shoots the Mexicans (while in sock feet). The second time, after [[spoiler: he shoots Welles]] he puts his feet up as he's on the phone with Llewelyn. The third time, he's coming out of Carla Jean's mother's house, proof that [[spoiler: he also killed Carla Jean]].
* SelfStitching: Anton blows up a car so he can steal the medical supplies to treat his injuries; he's later shown stitching himself up, as if we need proof that he's any more badass than he already is.

* ShootTheShaggyDog: The climax of the film is starkly anticlimactic, causing many to debate whether it was a brilliant {{deconstruction}} or an insulting cop-out.
* ShoutOut: Mike Zoss Pharmacy. "Mike Zoss" is the name of the Coen Brothers' production company and it was the actual name of a pharmacy located in [[http://bingoprof.blogspot.com/2007/12/mike-zoss-pharmacy.html St. Louis Park, Minnesota]].
* ShownTheirWork: A very well done one that averts GunsDoNotWorkThatWay. In the scene where Moss goes back to give water to the dying man (pointless as the the man was already dead when he arrived), drug dealers find him and set their dog on him. This forces Moss to swim across the river to escape, with the Pit Bull swimming after him. When he reaches the other side, he knows he can't outrun the dog and doesn't even try. A thousand other action movies would have him simply whip out his gun and shoot the dog. Not here. Moss knows his gun is soaking wet and has to be cleared before he can attempt to fire it, and goes through the correct procedure to do so. Keep in mind that he does all of the following under extreme pressure, as the dog is getting out of the water and coming after him. He racks the slide, ejecting the cartridge in the chamber, which had the most exposure to the water. He ejects the magazine, allowing as much water as possible to drain from the gun while simultaneously shaking the magazine to get the water out of it. He then blows several times into the barrel and the magazine receiver to clear water from them. Water does ''not'' compress, so any droplets of water in the barrel could very well have the gun blowing up in his face. After all this, he reinserts the magazine, chambers a round, and shoots the dog just as it is leaping at him. Total elapsed time from starting to clear the gun to shooting the dog: Ten seconds.
* ASimplePlan: A very dark take.
* SinisterSouthwest: A poacher in 1980s Southwest Texas finds the aftermath of a drug deal gone bloody in the desert and takes a briefcase full of money, leading to a peculiar hitman violently pursuing him across the state.

* StealingFromThieves: Both the book and [[Film/NoCountryForOldMen its movie adaptation]] invoke this trope to get [[ImplacableMan Anton Chigurh]] chasing [[AntiHero Llewelyn Moss]], a Vietnam veteran who stumbles on a drug deal gone awry. He steals a [[BriefcaseFullOfMoney suitcase full of money]] from the scene, with no one to see except one AlmostDeadGuy...
* SurpriseCarCrash: It uses this as part of its AntiClimax ending. After [[spoiler: Anton Chigurh kills Carla Jean and drives off before the police arrive, his car is struck down by another vehicle as he is leaving the neighborhood. Chigurh is as much a victim of circumstance as anyone else]].

** Gunshots are not something you can easily shrug off, even if you are a trained veteran or an unstoppable killing machine. Both Llewelyn and Chigurh have to carefully treat bullet wounds they get and the effects are felt for the rest of the film.
** Llewelyn and Chigurh don't face off in an explosive showdown. [[spoiler:Chigurh isn't the only person looking for Llewelyn's stolen money and unsurprisingly, some other hitmen get the drop on Llewelyn instead, resulting in him being killed anticlimactically offscreen.]]
** [[spoiler:Chigurh's car crash in the finale shows that, for all he thinks of himself as an unstoppable entity, he's still just a man and evading death in a gun fight without breaking a sweat doesn't mean you can't be killed by something as mundane as a driver on a sleepy suburban street running through a stop sign. The fact that he only survives through pure luck just drives it home further.]]
* TheSyndicate: The Matacumbe Petroleum Group, which is the company that owns the stolen money and hires both Anton Chigurh and Carson Welles to recover it.

** In the opening scene, the cop turns his back to Chigurh, and confidently saying the situation's under control. Not two ''seconds'' later, Chigurh brutally kills the cop using just his handcuffs, and escapes the precinct.
** Moss phones Wells, [[spoiler: only to find him dead]]. When Chigurh speaks with him, Moss confidently asserts he has found a way to beat him without involving his wife. [[spoiler: Moss goes to a motel for preparation, and he ends up dead not by Chigurh himself, but the Mexican mobsters looking for the money.]]
* ThatsWhatSheSaid : Amazingly enough. In the book, during the first exchange between Moss and Carla Jean.
--> Keep it up.
--> That's what she said.
* TooDumbToLive: The cop in the opening. Instead of putting Anton Chigurh in a jail cell after arresting him, he turns his back on him and sits on a desk to make a phone call, [[TemptingFate believing he has everything under control]].
* TrespassingToTalk: The protagonist's wife encountering PsychoForHire Anton Chigurh in her house who was waiting there for her to return.

--> ''Accountant'': Are you going to shoot me?
--> ''Chigurh'': [[HeadsIWinTailsYouLose That depends]]: [[YouDidntSeeThat do you]] [[IWasNeverHere see me]]?
-->-- ''end of scene''
* UselessProtagonist: Sheriff Bell, too apathetic to even properly pursue Chigurh, unlike the hotshot deputies and the out-of-state investigators trying to piece together what's going on. One of his major scenes is his deputy trying to encourage him to go with the investigators at the crime scenes - he doesn't care, saying it'll do no good. [[spoiler:He doesn't bother with investigating further after he fails to stop Chigurh, or the hitmen from killing Llewelyn.]]
* VillainousBreakdown: A subtle example when Anton is badly wounded unexpectedly in a car accident. He looks shocked and tells the boys at the scene he needs to sit and get his bearings for a while. Then he practically begs the boys for a shirt and help to make a sling for his broken arm, followed by giving them a generous tip for the help. All very out of character for Anton, showing us he's not as powerful as he thinks.
* VillainsNeverLie: Averted. The Juarez Cartel recovers their heroin from the deal gone wrong but reports it missing to the other party involved.

* WhamLine: It doubles as a BadassBoast...or it would have if not for the eventual subversion.

* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: Chigurh's one is a bizarre mix of Bardem's natural Spanish, West Texan, Transylvanian, and something like ''Martian''. He sounds like an alien trying to imitate a human accent, and failing.

* 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.]]

* AnyoneCanDie: One of the themes of the film.

* KillThemAll: [[spoiler:Come the finale, the only major characters not seen dead are Ed Tom and Chigurh.]]

* CaptainObvious: After Chigurh gets T-boned, one of the kids on bicycles states the obvious fact that Chigurh has a bone sticking out of his arm. In fact he states it twice.

** In one scene, Chigurh uses a Glock 19 pistol. Glock pistols were not produced until 1983. The movie takes place in 1980.

* NotAfraidOfHell: The ninteen-year-old murderer at the beginning fits this trope like a glove, going to the electric chair without complaint after murdering his girlfriend for no apparent reason:

''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.

But for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, and the men behind the deal have sent ruthless hitman Anton Chigurh (Creator/JavierBardem) to retrieve the briefcase. Chigurh is a man willing to do ''[[TheUnfettered absolutely anything]]'' -- to "[[{{Ubermensch}} follow a supreme act of will]]", as [[BlueAndOrangeMorality he puts it]] -- in order to achieve his aims... and it's no longer just the money he's after.

This film was one of two collaborations of Creator/{{Paramount}} Vantage and Creator/{{Miramax}} released in 2007, alongside ''Film/ThereWillBeBlood'', itself nominated for multiple awards. At the time, Miramax was owned by Creator/{{Disney}}. Miramax was subsequently sold to Filmyard Holdings in 2010, then to [=beIN=] Media Group in 2016. Four years later, Paramount acquired a minority stake in Miramax, and now holds the worldwide rights to all films it had co-produced with Miramax (except for ''Film/SlidingDoors'', which is now owned by Creator/ShoutFactory), along with the rest of the Miramax library.

** Llewelyn and Chigurh don't face off in an explosive showdown. [[spoiler:Chigurh isn't the only person looking for Llewelyn's stolen money and unsurprisingly, some other hitmen get the drop on Llewelyn instead.]]

This film was one of two collaborations of Creator/{{Paramount}} Vantage and Creator/{{Miramax}} released in 2007, alongside ''Film/ThereWillBeBlood'', itself nominated for multiple awards. At the time, Miramax was owned by Creator/{{Disney}}. Miramax was subsequently sold to Filmyard Holdings in 2010, then to [=beIN=] Media Group in 2016. Four years later, Paramount acquired a minority stake in Miramax, and now holds the worldwide rights to all films it had co-produced with Miramax (except for ''Film/SlidingDoors'', which is now owned by Creator/ShoutFactory).

* ObstructiveBureaucrat: The one time Anton Chigurh meets his match.

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