Rural Texas… Welder and hunter Llewelyn Moss discovers the remains of several drug dealers who have all killed each other in a drug deal gone wrong. Rather than report to the police, Moss decides to simply take the briefcase he found at the crime scene which had $2 million inside for himself. This sets the psychopathic killer, Anton Chigurh, on Moss’ trail as Chigurh dispassionately murders nearly every rival, bystander and even employer in his pursuit of Moss and the money. Moss attempts to be one step ahead, but Chigurh is inching closer and closer to him and eventually he does. Meanwhile, Sheriff Ed Tom Bell oversees the investigation and he struggles to face the scope of the crimes he’s trying to stop.
So, a movie is only as good as your villain. And Javier Bardem’s character Anton Chigurh is that, and, his Oscar win for best supporting actor at the 2008 Oscars really shows how menacing his performance was. I don’t think anyone else would have played that character better. Javier Bardem just has a certain psychotic serial killer vibe about him. I wouldn’t want to run into him on the street. Speaking of the 2008 Oscars, that wasn’t the only Oscar that movie received. It also won best picture, best writing/screenplay and best director. So, four Oscar wins and it also got four Oscar nominations: best achievement in cinematography, best achievement in film editing, best achievement in sound editing and best achievement in sound mixing.
I highly recommend that you check this movie out. This movie does drag at times, but, it never gets boring because it’s all about building suspense and giving you some great small character moments. Let’s talk about that suspense. Man, this movie is really great at giving you the creeps. Nothing jumps out at you, but, you’re constantly in fear of what and when Javier Bardem’s character is going to do next. And the constant silence during the many Moss vs. Chigurh chase scenes adds to that suspense. I noticed that this movie has zero music whatsoever, only at the end credits. I really didn’t know how to grade this movie after that weird ending, but, after seeing the explanation of it online, it is a perfect ending and I’m giving it 10/10*.
