Line #16 YMMV/NoCountryForOldMen


1	* AccidentalAesop:
2	** Life isn't [[BlackAndWhiteMorality black and white]]. Acting like it is will just cause problems for yourself.
3	** Also, if you find some money near some dead guys, ''for God's sake leave it the hell alone!'' Or at the very least, search the contents, in case there's a tracker in it. The person you steal from will likely not be kind or merciful to you. That, and the police will be after you as well under the belief that you were involved in the crime scene.
4	** Once you're free and clear, try not to go back to the crime scene later on.
5	* AdaptationDisplacement: The film is far better known than the novel, and many consider it to be superior.
6	** The novel was originally conceived as a screenplay, resulting in an unusually spare writing style compared to Cormac [=McCarthy=]'s other novels.
7	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
8	** Mostly of Anton Chigurh. Those characters who know about him act like he's an unstoppable badass, but think about it. Sure, he kills plenty of people, but always by taking them by surprise/attacking them while they're unarmed/using an exotic weapon that most people wouldn't recognize/all three at once. When he finally confronts someone who is ready and able to put up a fight, he is wounded and loses his quarry. When he is faced with the prospect of a fight with Sheriff Bell, he runs away. Finally, at the end of the movie [[spoiler:he murders Moss' innocent, unarmed wife, and then just barely escapes the police with the help of two children, who he bribes to keep quiet about it in part because it would be humiliating and damaging to his reputation if it got out.]] The guy isn't a badass; he's just a cowardly psycho with delusions of magnificence.
9	*** He's also a scarily good planner. The scene in the hotel has him figuring out how to attack the Mexicans' hotel room down to the last detail. It doesn't make him necessarily any more badass, it just makes him good at figuring out his arenas.
10	*** Possibly an example of a less-commonly discussed element of assassin-class characters: being good at killing people does not mean you're good at fighting for your own life. Anton is an assassin class character through and through; the only part of fighting he specializes in is the part where he takes lives, not anything else.
11	** Chigurh's final interaction with [[spoiler:Carla Jean]]. The only reason for the murder is a promise he made that he has no real incentive to fulfill beyond satisfying his own "code". In spite of this, he still deviates from that promise and [[spoiler:offers her the coin toss]], even saying that it's "the best [he] can do." It can be considered an exceptionally twisted act of mercy that he worked in as a loophole to his code, especially because he didn't have to offer to do that. On the other hand, this can be seen as an utterly pathetic action, with him having to hide behind his "code" to justify his own unjustifiable behavior. After all, [[spoiler:Carla Jean]] does say, "It's not the coin, it's you."
12	** Is Sheriff Bell the last of a dying brand of justice, incapable of containing a rising tide of evil, a law enforcement officer finally succumbing to burnout and trying to deny it, or a self-pitying old man so preoccupied with the past that he has become ineffectual in the present?
13	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: After almost exclusively diegetic music [[note]]that is, only music from an identifiable onscreen source[[/note]] for the whole film (and barely any of it, at that), Carter Burwell's bone-chilling theme finally plays during the credits, and it is '''perfect'''. Unfortunately, it's almost impossible to hear without simply playing the scene over and over on your DVD, because no soundtrack was released. It can, however, be heard in its entirety on [=YouTube=] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShUc6gto4sQ here]].
14	* CompleteMonster: [[{{Ubermensch}} Anton Chigurh]] is a [[PsychoForHire hired assassin]] defined by his [[TheFatalist fatalistic]] personal code. Compared to [[TheBlackDeath the Bubonic Plague]] by his former associate Carson Wells, Chigurh is an [[DissonantSerenity emotionless]] killer with no regard for human life, occasionally deciding his victims' fates with a [[DiceRollDeath coin toss]]. [[EstablishingCharacterMoment Introduced]] by [[CopKiller strangling a police officer]] to death with handcuffs, Chigurh proceeds to murder an innocent man to steal his car, repeating this crime multiple times throughout in the film. Employed to recover $2 million lost in a drug deal gone bad, Chigurh murders two of his employer's men and relentlessly hunts for Llewelyn Moss to retrieve the money. Along the way, Chigurh murders several Mexican criminals who are also pursuing Moss, shooting one of them as he surrenders, and kills a hotel clerk and a random motorist who get caught in a gunfight between Chigurh and Moss. Chigurh later kills Wells and the man who hired them both, intending to keep the money for himself, and promises to kill Moss's wife Carla Jean unless Moss surrenders the money, making it clear that he intends to kill Moss regardless; Wells had previously commented that even if Moss gave up the money, Chigurh would kill him anyway for "inconveniencing him". After Moss is killed, Chigurh murders Carla Jean, attempting to justify this senselessly cruel act by claiming to be keeping his promise to Moss. A chilling psychopath devoid of humanity, Chigurh is presented as an unstoppable force of evil, a monster [[LackOfEmpathy without empathy]] or remorse.
15	* CreepyAwesome: It's not for no reason that Anton Chigurh is largely considered to be the creepiest movie villain since [[Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal Lecter.]] Between Barden's nightmarish acting, his unique [[ImprobableWeaponUser choice in weapons and murder strategies]], the [[NarmCharm bad haircut]], and the fact that he spends pretty much the whole movie [[EvilIsCool running circles around the protagonists]], this is not the kind of bad guy you're going to forget any time soon.
16	* EvilisCool: Anton. He’s even called a badass in the movie itself, and [[ImplacableMan for]] [[TheBadGuyWins very]] [[TheDreaded good]] [[NoNonsenseNemesis reason.]]
17	* FashionVictimVillain: Regarding that haircut, in the actor's words, "I'm not going to get laid for three months." Unlike most examples of the trope, it actually makes Anton ''scarier'' instead of laughable.
18	* FridgeBrilliance: Even if Llewelyn didn't go back to check on the injured gangster, he would've been caught by the cartel. The cartel was already aware of [[spoiler:the radio tracker hidden in the briefcase]], and would only have to search around town until they got a signal from it. So, if anything, bringing the injured man water might've prolonged Llewelyn's life, since it led to him getting out of town.
19	** On the flip side, if he hadn't been in a panic to split since he was spotted and his truck had its tires slit, he might have been in a better frame of mind to actually ''look'' in the bag...
20	* HilariousInHindsight:
21	** Creator/JoshBrolin and Creator/TommyLeeJones co-starred in ''Film/MenInBlack3'', with Brolin playing an uncanny younger version of Jones. This means this is another film [[spoiler:where they don't share a scene together.]]
22	** In 2021's ''Film/{{Dune\|2021}}'', Gurney Halleck (Brolin) says he doesn't like Stilgar (Creator/JavierBardem). Anyone who watches ''No Country For Old Men'' might have an idea why. Amusingly, both characters end up in the same side in the [[Film/DunePartTwo film]] [[DividedForAdaptation second half]].
23	* LoveToHate: Anton Chigurh is a psychotic killer, but a hypnotically captivating one.
24	* MemeticBadass: The receptionist at the trailer park who refuses to tell Chigurh where Moss works.
25	* MemeticMutation:
26	** The [[http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2183/3659557199_cf6cf70932_z.jpg?zz=1 Implied Facepalm]]. When it's not even worth {{facepalm}}ing at.
27	** Anton Chigurh, likely inspired by the coin toss, became the memetic host of "kek or cringe," a meme grading show with memes deemed "cringe" resulting in its participants being killed. As the meme got more popular, many began applying the formula to other fictional universes with different hosts.
28	* MoralEventHorizon: The Mexican mobsters cross it when they [[spoiler:murder the woman by the hotel pool in their attempt to kill Moss]]. Chigurh also kills anyone who gets in his way as he moves around the country, and in one case kills an innocent person purely on principle.
29	-->"Can you get those chicken crates out of the bed?"
30	* OneSceneWonder:
31	** Creator/StephenRoot's character, the mysterious boss who hires Carson Wells, is never named and has only two scenes.
32	** Creator/BarryCorbin as the maimed former deputy Ellis has one scene with Sheriff Bell after most of the story is over.
33	** Gene Jones as the befuddled old gas station attendant who Chigurh comes ''[[NothingIsScarier this]]'' close to killing over a coin toss.
34	* RetroactiveRecognition:
35	** Fans of WebVideo/VideoGameHighSchool will be surprised to see Josh Blaylock (who plays protagonist [=BrianD=]) show up near the ending (he's the kid who gives Anton his shirt.) On that note, fans of ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'' (where he portrays Jack Marston) might be surprised to see that he starred in this film beforehand.
36	** The other boy is Creator/CalebLandryJones.
37	** The shoe salesman is the Catheter Cowboy from ''Series/LastWeekTonightWithJohnOliver''.
38	* RootingForTheEmpire: Some fans might find themselves cheering on Chigurh, if only because [[DecoyProtagonist Llewelyn]] is an [[IdiotHero idiot]] and a {{Jerkass}} and Sheriff Bell is an ineffectual PinballProtagonist. Chigurh is the only one of the three main characters who is actually good at what he does.
39	* SignatureScene: The coin toss scene, widely regarded as one of the ''tensest'' moments put to film.
40	* SpiritualSuccessor: It arguably got one in Series/TrueDetective season 1, which is also a neo-Western Noir that ponders existence and morality, almost to a depressing degree. It also features award-winning performances, naturalistic and sometimes lengthy dialogue, and more realistic violence and language than most others of its kind. They also both feature Creator/WoodyHarrelson.
41	* SpecialEffectFailure: That dead dog shot looks very rubbish and fake.
42	* {{Squick}}: Somewhat of a Fridge Squick. In the hotel shootout scene, when Llewelyn tumbles out of the pickup truck, he's covered in blood. It takes a second for it to sink in that it's not HIS blood.
43	** Chigurh cleaning his wounds. As well as the [[spoiler:bone sticking out of his arm.]]
44	* TearJerker: Carla Jean's [[spoiler:death. She's lost her husband and mother and has just returned from the latter's funeral when she finds Chigurh in her room. Even Chigurh sounds rather sad knowing that -- [[BlueAndOrangeMorality by his code]] -- he "has" to kill her, although he clearly couldn't really care less about her life and is merely self-pitying about having to do the deed.]]
45	* TooBleakStoppedCaring: It's a story by Cormac [=McCarthy=], so don't get very attached to the characters. It actually hurts the movie for some, as for example the on paper tense coin toss scene is undermined by the fact that you've never seen the old clerk, and in this movie you really just expect him to die anyway, as just another stranger that Chigurh kills [[ForTheEvulz just because]].
46	* TheWoobie: Carla Jean Moss. She is completely innocent, and has a {{Jerkass}} husband who orders her around without telling her anything and an useless old mother with cancer. [[spoiler:Her husband is killed because of his hubris, her mother dies of cancer, and she is finally killed herself by Chigurh.]]

Context YMMV / NoCountryForOldMen