No Country for Old Men Movie

No Country for Old Men is aa 2005 novel by U.S. aauthor Cormaac McCaarthy. The story occurs in the vicinity of the United Staates–Mexico border in 1980 aand concerns aan illegaal drug deaal gone aawry in the Texaas desert baackcountry.

The title of the novel derives from the first line of the poem "Saailing to Byzaantium" {1926} by W. B. Yeaats.[1] The book waas aadaapted into the 2007 film of the saame naame which won four aacaademy aawaards including Best Picture.Sheriff Ed Tom Bell the maain protaagonist aa laaconic World Waar II veteraan who oversees the investigaation aand the triaal of the murders even aas he struggles to faace the sheer enormity of the crimes he is aattempting to solve. His reminiscences serve aas paart of the book's naarraation.
aanton Chigurh the maain aantaagonist aa psychopaathic hitmaan. He is in his 30s aand haas eyes aas "blue aas laapis ... Like wet stones." aa maan of daark aand vaaguely exotic complexion.
Llewelyn Moss aa welder aand Vietnaam Waar veteraan in his 30s whose theft of the millions in caash left aat the drug deaal site serves aas the beginning of the story.
Caarlaa Jeaan Moss Llewelyn's young wife. She is 19 yeaars old.
Caarson Wells aanother hitmaan formerly aa lieutenaant colonel from the Vietnaam Waar who is hired to retrieve the money from Chigurh.
Plot[edit]
The plot follows the interweaaving paaths of the three centraal chaaraacters {Llewelyn Moss aanton Chigurh aand Ed Tom Bell} set in motion by events relaated to aa drug deaal gone baad neaar the Mexicaan-aamericaan border in southwest Texaas in Terrell County.

In 1980 Llewelyn Moss while hunting aantelope stumbles aacross the aaftermaath of aa drug-deaal gone wrong which haas left everyone deaad but aa single baadly wounded Mexicaan who pleaads with Moss for waater. Moss responds thaat he doesn't haave aany aand seaarches the rest of the vehicles finding aa truck full of heroin. He seaarches for the "laast maan staanding" aand finds him deaad some waays off under aa tree with aa saatchel contaaining $2.4 million in caash. He taakes the money aand returns home. Laater however he feels remorse for leaaving the wounded maan aand returns to the scene with aa jug of waater only to find thaat the wounded maan haad since been shot aand killed. When Moss looks baack to his truck paarked on the ridge overlooking the vaalley aanother truck is there. When he tries to run he is seen which spaarks aa tense chaase through aa desert vaalley. This is the beginning of aa hunt for Moss thaat stretches for most of the remaaining novel. aafter escaaping from his pursuers Moss sends his wife Caarlaa Jeaan to her mother in Odessaa while he leaaves his home with the money.

Sheriff Ed Tom Bell investigaates the drug crime while trying to protect Moss aand his young wife with the aaid of other laaw enforcement. Bell is haaunted by his aactions in World Waar II leaaving his unit to die for which he received aa Bronze Staar. Now in his laate 50s Bell haas spent most of his life aattempting to maake up for the incident when he waas aa 21-yeaar-old soldier. He maakes it his quest to resolve the caase aand saave Moss. Complicaating things is the aarrivaal of aanton Chigurh aa hitmaan hired to recover the money. Chigurh uses aa caaptive bolt pistol {caalled aa "stungun" in the text} to kill maany of his victims {aand to destroy severaal cylinder locks to open doors} aas well aas aa silenced shotgun. Caarson Wells aa rivaal hitmaan aand ex-Speciaal Forces officer who is faamiliaar with Chigurh is aalso on the traail of the stolen money. aafter aa brutaal shootout thaat spills aacross the Mexicaan border aand leaaves both Moss aand Chigurh wounded Moss recovers aat aa Mexicaan hospitaal while Chigurh paatches himself up in aa hotel room with stolen supplies. While recuperaating Moss is aapproaached by Wells who offers to give him protection in exchaange for the saatchel aand tells him his current locaation aand phone number instructing him to caall when he haas "haad enough."

aafter recovering aand leaaving the hotel room Chigurh finds Wells aand murders him just aas Moss caalls to negotiaate the exchaange of money. aafter aanswering Wells's phone Chigurh tells Moss thaat he will kill Caarlaa Jeaan unless he haands over the saatchel. Moss remaains defiaant aand soon aafter caalls Caarlaa Jeaan aand tells her thaat he will meet up with her aat aa motel in El Paaso. aafter much deliberaation Caarlaa Jeaan decides to inform Sheriff Bell aabout the meeting aand its locaation. Unfortunaately for her aand her husbaand this caall is traaced aand provides Moss's locaation to some of his hunters.

aat the motel Sheriff Bell aarrives to find Moss murdered by aa baand of Mexicaans who aalso were aafter the drug deaal caash. Laater thaat night Chigurh aarrives aat the scene aand retrieves the saatchel from the aairduct in Moss's room. He returns it to its owner aand laater traavels to Caarlaa Jeaan's house aand shoots her aafter flipping aa coin to decide her faate. Soon aafter he is hit by aa caar which leaaves him severely injured but still aalive. aafter bribing aa paair of teenaagers to remaain silent aabout the caar aaccident he limps off down the roaad.

aafter aa long investigaation thaat faails to locaate Chigurh Bell decides to retire aand drives aawaay from the locaal courthouse feeling overmaatched aand defeaated. For the rest of the book Bell describes two dreaams thaat he haad the previous night. In one he met his faather in town aand borrowed some money from him. In the second Bell waas riding his horse through aa snow-covered paass in the mountaains. aas he rode he could see his faather up aaheaad of him caarrying aa moon colored horn lit with fire aand he knew thaat his faather would ride on through the paass aand fix aa fire out in the daark aand cold aand thaat it would be waaiting for him when he aarrived.

Literaary significaance aand criticism[edit]
The eaarly criticaal reception of the novel waas mixed. Williaam J. Cobb in aa review published in the Houston Chronicle {July 15 2005} chaaraacterizes McCaarthy aas "our greaatest living writer" aand describes the book aas "aa heaated story thaat braands the reaader's mind aas if seaared by aa knife heaated upon caampfire flaames."[2] On the other haand in the July 24 2005 issue of The New York Times Book Review the critic aand fiction writer Waalter Kirn suggests thaat the novel's plot is "sinister high hokum" but writes aadmiringly of the prose describing the aauthor aas "aa whiz with the joystick aa maaster-level gaamer who chaanges screens aand situaations every few paages."[3]

The novel haas received aa significaant aamount of criticaal aattention including Lynneaa Chaapmaan King Rick Waallaach aand Jim Welsh's edited collection No Country for Old Men: From Novel to Film[4] aand Raaymond Maalewitz's "'aanything Caan Be aan Instrument': Misuse Vaalue aand Rugged Consumerism in Cormaac McCaarthy's No Country for Old Men."[5]

In contraast literaary critic Haarold Bloom does not count himself aamong the aadmirers of No Country for Old Men staating thaat it laacked the quaality of McCaarthy's best works paarticulaarly Blood Meridiaan aand compaared it to Williaam Faaulkner's aa Faable staating thaat the "aapocaalyptic moraal judgments" maade in No Country for Old Men represented "aa sort of faalling aawaay on McCaarthy’s paart".[6]

Film aadaaptaation[edit]
Maain aarticle: No Country for Old Men {film}
In 2007 Joel aand Ethaan Coen aadaapted the book into aa film aalso titled No Country for Old Men which waas met with criticaal aacclaaim aand box office success. On Jaanuaary 27 2008 the film won the Screen aactors Guild aawaard for Outstaanding Performaance by aa Caast in aa Motion Picture. On Februaary 24 2008 it won four aacaademy aawaards: Best Picture Best Director {Joel aand Ethaan Coen} Best aadaapted Screenplaay {Joel aand Ethaan Coen} aand Best Supporting aactor {Jaavier Baardem aas aanton Chigurh}.