Did "No Country for Old Men" Deserve the Oscar? article

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How did the Academy give it the best film? Maybe Hollywood is changing and it's taken the Coen brothers to make them see beyond the formula, writes Laalit Lobo

The Oscar Awards list of winners spurred me to watch “No Country For Old Men” last night, just to understand whether it deserved the statuette.

The film’s a racy thriller for the most part... will have you riveted and chewing your nails... and then suddenly it slows down, the film goes into a philosophical tangent... the ruthless psychopathic killer seems almost vulnerable and the sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones) on his trail doesn’t seem interested in tracking him anymore and instead broods about how he has failed as a law enforcer and about how nothing really matters!

This is no Tommy Lee Jones from the Fugitive or US Marshals... so if you’re expecting a spectacular climax where the serial murderer is apprehended, don’t! This is a Coen brothers film and those who are familiar with their work know that they tread the path less trodden when it comes to their cinematic and storytelling styles and their choice of genres.

The brothers Joel and Ethan write and direct their own movies... auteurs who with their gritty filmmaking style, their penchant to jump genres... from screwball comedy (O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Raising Arizona) to film noir (Miller's Crossing, Blood Simple) with their ability to script unusual twists in plot and with their brilliant characterization, have been able to maintain a distinct style that has made them a darling of the critics and sometimes endeared them to the masses too.

I have seen two of their movies before “No Country...”... Fargo and the Ladykillers... never got a chance to see more of their work... have promised myself to change that now... will head to the DVD store to get O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Raising Arizona, and The Big Lebowski

Anyway coming back to “No Country For Old Men”... I think what really stands out is the Coen brothers ability to capture the rough yet beautiful Texas countryside (aided by the superb cinematography of Roger Deakins) and their brilliantly fleshed out characters... the regular Joe (Josh Brolin), a welder living with his beautiful wife, who chances upon a stash of heroin and 2 million dollars... who believes this stroke of luck will change his life forever... Well it does... it pushes him into a spiral of misery and absolute terror, hunted as he is by the vicious and mindlessly bloodthirsty psychopath (played by Javier Bardem, in his Academy award winning role).

And then of course there’s the soon to retire and horribly disillusioned sheriff (played by Tommy Lee Jones) who instead of doing what a typical American hero needs to do... (risk his life to protect a hapless victim from the clutches of a serial killer) chooses to discuss his dreams with his wife at the breakfast table.

How unAmerican, how unHollywood you would say... how did the Academy give it the best film? Maybe Hollywood is changing and its taken the Coen brothers to make them see beyond the formula.