History Literature / NoCountryForOldMen

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

* CreatorThumbprint: 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).

West Texas, 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.

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 achieve his aims... and it's no longer just the money he's after.

** [[spoiler: Though, specifically, it is the Juarez Cartel that ultimately gets the money- the Matacumbe Petroleum Group gets decimated by Chigurh for their troubles, who himself fails to get anything.]]

** [[spoiler: Chigurh becomes this by the end. He doesn't kill Moss, he doesn't get the money, and he betrayed and later killed his boss for no reason. The best he can muster is to fulfil his promise / threat to kill Carla Jean, but even that is soured by her defiant attitude and a karmic car accident that leaves him badly injured.]]

** [[spoiler: Though, specifically, it is the Juarez Cartel that ultimately gets the money- the Matacumbe Petroleum Group gets decimated by Chigurh, who himself gets nothing in the end.]]

* [[spoiler: Chigurh becomes this by the end. He doesn't kill Moss, he doesn't get the money, and he betrayed and later killed his boss for no reason. The best he can muster is to fulfil his promise / threat to kill Carla Jean, but even that is soured by her defiant attitude and a karmic car accident that leaves him badly injured.]]

* BigBad: Anton Chigurh.

* {{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 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.]]

** Llewellyn flags down a motorist on an otherwise deserted street while running from Chigurh; the driver dies when Chigurh shoots at them. As above, the guy was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

** 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.

* KarmaHoudini: Played with. [[spoiler:Llewellyn'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.]]

* 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.

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

* 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 Llewellyn is killed right before he manages to reach him.]]

* 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 Llewellyn. The third time, he's coming out of Carla Jean's mother's house, proof that [[spoiler: he also killed Carla Jean]].

* 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 Llewyn.]]

%% * NightmareFuelStationAttendant: Anton Chigurh.

* DeathIsDramatic: Sometimes, but just as often, averted or even {{subverted|Trope}}.
** [[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}}: A specialty both of Creator/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.]]
** Anton Chigurh is a deconstruction of the ImplacableMan and HitmanWithAHeart. He isn't a killer robot from the future, and he can bleed and get hurt, but Anton is still as close to a terminator as you could get in real life. Like a Dostoyevskean character, Anton is completely driven by an idea. In this case, the idea is that every action you take, will ultimately decide your fate. If Anton is hired to kill you, that means that somewhere along the line, you have committed an action that warranted it. [[DisproportionateRetribution If you realized this or not at the time, makes ''NO'' difference,]] and there is ''NO'' amount of begging and pleading that will save you, once you're in Chigurh's sights. Anton simply views himself as fates messenger, [[BreakThemByTalking and calmly and methodically makes sure that you realize how poor your decisions were, before he blows your brains out.]] Compare with UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan and his "I am the flail of god" quote, to see where he is coming from. The HitmanWithAHeart part, comes from the fact that Chigurh doesn't feel any anger or hatred for his victims. If anything, he might feel pity for the fact that they'd ended up in their current situation, and like in Carla Jean's case, through the fault of others. In some cases, he is willing to give his victims a coin toss to spare potentially their lives (further playing into his fatalistic worldview and his role as a messenger of fate). But that's it. Chigurhs just the deliveryman.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:TheBadGuyWins]]. 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]].

* InfoDrop:
** In the film, the date is only revealed from the fact that a 1958 coin "has traveled 22 years to get here".
** And on Agnes' Tombstone.

* PunchClockVillain: Despite being batshit-crazy, Chigurh regards his actions as simply doing his job and doesn't really enjoy it. However, he sees no wrong in what he is doing.

* ShoutOut:
** The dying man asking for water, aside from a few details, is very close to the same scene in ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly''.
** 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]].
** Chigurh wears the same haircut as [[Film/HardBoiled Mad Dog]]. Like Mad Dog, Chigurh has a sense of morality - but unlike Mad Dog, it's not like anyone's morality.
** The case holding the money looks like the case carrying the ransom money in ''{{Film/Fargo}}''. In both films, the money winds up in the hands of someone other than its intended recipient.

* SurpriseCarCrash: It uses this as part of its AntiClimax ending. After [[spoiler: Anton Chigurh kills Carla Jean and drives off before the police arrives, his car is struck down by another vehicle as he is leaving the neighborhood]].

* AndTheAdventureContinues:
** Possibly averted in the book. [[spoiler:Bell offhandedly mentions that they can find Chigurh based off the description the boys and driver gave the police, along with the compound fracture. He also mentions the cartel will just send another like him if he is caught.]]

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: This is what Chigurh's "moral code" is. He has rules, but they almost completely prohibit coexistence with others, as he usually punishes breaches of the moral code with gunshots. For example, he despises people who inherit something, apparently preferring things by chance (as seen when the gas store owner is spared by a coin toss), and he also despises people who try to use multiple people to accomplish one deed (and punishes it by shotgun blasts to the chest).

West Texas, 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. 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.

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's after... and it's no longer just the money he's after.

* SurpriseCarCrash: It uses this as part of its AntiClimax ending. After Anton Chigurh kills his targets, he sets off for Mexico -- before he can leave the neighborhood, another car comes out of nowhere and hits him, breaking his arm.

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

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

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:TheBadGuyWins]]. Not only [[spoiler:is the {{Deuteragonist}} 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]].

* SurpriseCarCrash: It uses this as part of its AntiClimax ending. After Anton Chigurh kills his targets, he sets off for Mexico to track down the stolen money--before he can leave the neighborhood, another car comes out of nowhere and hits him, breaking his arm.

** The case that the money is in when Llewelyn finds it looks like the one the ransom money gets delivered in from ''{{Film/Fargo}}''. In both films, the money winds up in the hands of someone other than its intended recipient.

* 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.]]

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 he puts it -- in order to get what he's after... and it's no longer just the money he's after.