The time is our own, when rustlers have given way to drug-runners and small towns have become free-fire zones. The story begins when Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) finds a pickup truck surrounded by a sentry of dead men. A load of heroin and two million dollars in cash are still in the back. When Moss takes the money, he sets off a chain reaction of catastrophic violence that not even the law -- in the person of aging, disillusioned Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) - can contain. As Moss tries to evade his pursuers -- in particular a mysterious mastermind who flips coins for human lives (Javier Bardem) - the film simultaneously strips down the American crime drama and broadens its concerns to encompass themes as ancient as the Bible and as bloodily contemporary as this morning’s headlines.

Based on the novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Cormac McCarthy.

It is great to see the Coen Brothers return to form after the last couple movies they have made have been disappointments. They are still some of the most talented film makers, and story tellers in all of Hollywood. They can do off humor, they can do action, they can do thrilling and they can do it all in the same film. No Country for Old Men takes them back to form when they were at the peak of their careers with a little film called Fargo. The film is a simple tale of a relentless murderer who will do anything to get his money back and the unwitting soul who dared to take it from him told in fantastic thrilling suspense. It is a game of cat and mouse on the largest scale, the mouse has teeth too but is no real match for the cat and it is a testament of how fast the mouse can run and how smart he can be in outwitting the cat if he is going to survive. And us as the audiences are treated to this intense chase that absolutely glues you your seat. For most of the film I had to use the restroom but I was so enthralled I never got up and went because I was afraid to miss one second of the film and that is saying something about the film right there.

Up until know there was no real film that blew me away and just cried best film of the year. There are several that were great like Grindhouse and Easter Promises but none like No Country for Old Men that were so amazingly good that you would want to use a blurb like best film of the year even if it was December and there was very little chance that you would see many more films from the year. After nearly one hundred films in 2007 in the summer of threequels and in age where sequels and remakes dominate Hollywood, No Country for Old Men is an amazing tale of originality, suspense and a proof that there are still great directors and original stories out there. The film has a simple story, incredible performances by everyone it it’s cast, great direction and writing and is one of those films ten years from now you can still sit down and watch and enjoy over and over again.

The ending may make some people scratch their heads and it may lose some of its audience at that point but to me it was the perfect way to end the film. I have seen many films that try for the ambiguous ending and fail to pull it off but the Coen brothers do it better than anyone else. And this isn’t the first time they have done it either, Barton Fink left us with as many questions as answers but this may be the best they have ever done this type of ending. The film is over the game of cat and mouse has been played out and we know who wins whether it be the cat or the mouse and all that is left is Tommy Lee Jones to tell us a story that fits the theme and beauty of the movie. A dream that simplifies it all and then fades it black, some questions still unanswered but us an audience still entertained and thrilled by this masterpiece of a movie.

The two best performances in the film fittingly enough are Josh Brolin as the mouse and Javier Bardem as the cat giving endless chase of him. Josh Brolin pulls of the smarts needed and gives you that impression of a man quick thinking enough to try and escape a relentless killer that does this as a profession. He zigs and zags his way through numerous pitfalls and traps leading up the epic ending of the film. Javier Bardem is so cold, so emotionless that you can’t help but be a little afraid of him as he keeps going, never stopping, never considering any consequences, making decisions with the flip of a coin. Always on the hunt, always on the chase, just as whip smart but more relentless and cruel in a cold manner that chills your very blood. And Tommy Lee Jones wraps up the cast as the tired cop that remembers a less complicated time, a time of his father and his grandfather and who finds himself only wishing to return to that time as he delivers witless one liners and observations. The cast makes the film great just as much as having Joel and Ethan Coen behind the cameras does. Simply one of the best films of the year if not the best.

Grade: A