No Country movie discussion--put yer two cents in here!

Funny piece in this week's New Yorker by Nora Ephron about the movie. Thanks to my colleague and Neanderthal invitee Andy Delfino for passing this one along. So, have you seen it yet? What did you think?

EDIT, DECEMBER 13th . . . Lumpy, Peter, Chris, and I saw the movie together last night, and the email discussion has been flying around all day. Here's the conversation with only nominal editing . . .

Enloe
Looks like we're not the only ones confused by the scene with Bell and Chigurh in the hotel - from wikipedia -

'Bell arrives in El Paso moments too late: Moss is dead (along with some of the Mexican hitmen who killed him). Bell later returns to the crime scene and finds the lock blown out by Chigurh's cattle gun. We see Chigurh hiding behind the door of the hotel room, but when Bell enters he finds no-one and the bathroom window is locked from the inside (it is unclear whether Chigurh is hiding behind the door, unchecked by Bell, or whether Bell is imagining Chigurh, who is in fact no longer present). Bell then sees that the vent cover has been removed with a coin and realizes the money is gone.'

Lumpkin
Chip Parker just pointed out that the door opens fully to the wall. Chigurh was not there. I now think Bell was imagining him.

Enloe
I don't know - the movie was pretty much straight narrative. It would be off kilter for them to toss in an imagination sequence out of the blue without warning or tipoff. I also would think it a cop out. Was the shower curtain closed in the bathroom?

ps - IIRC in the book Chigurh is in his car with the $ when bell pulls up. He waits in the car watching bell go up to the room and enter it. Bell realizes he just missed Chigurh and emerges and calls the local cops, who lock the lot down and search each car, but Chigurh has slipped out.

Kopp
It was a great movie. I have been talking with people here at work that have not read the book. Honestly, I would be interested to know what their reaction would be to the film version. They did such a good job with it I feel like they wrote it just for people who actually read the book. Shows what respect they have for the material. There were several times the movie could have been much more theatrical if they decided so. But they resisted that urge. Do you think you would have enjoyed it as much if you didn't read the book? I don't think I would have.

Parker
I really enjoyed it and did not read the book. Just one person though.

Lumpkin
Books/movies/books/movies…..

I have a positive attitude about both. A movie has never ruined a book for me. A few movies have made the story (book + movie) an all-around better experience. A million decisions go in to creating either and that creativity is what keeps me coming back for more. Lolita is a perfect example.

For No Country, the synergy between book and movie makes both more enjoyable. Some people find it gratuitous when the film maker "winks" at the audience by bringing an obvious aspect of the book into the movie (Peter Jackson did this in LOTR I. When the hobbits stumble over the embankment while fleeing the Nazgul, they land next to a patch of mushrooms and a chapter title from the book emerged from the dialogue). It doesn’t bother me terribly even if it takes my attention out of the "world" the movie is trying to create--as long as it’s not too blatant. It’s a film maker’s way of positively acknowledging some intelligence in the world.

Unfortunately, you have to experience one or the other first. Wouldn’t I be great if you could somehow separate them as completely different experiences and THEN enjoy that synergy?

Kopp
Step away from the bong Michael.

Just kidding, I agree.

Lumpkin
I know. I am a huge nerd.

Enloe
My take is more mundane. I'm glad I read the book so I knew when to duck and didn't get too depressed when that SOB killed Carla Jean.

Also--I don't think the Coen Bros made Chigurh an anti-hero, a-la H Lecter in Silence of the Lambs, but I think they painted him as almost superhuman. This struck me as silly in the book and equally silly in the film. Don't tell me evil is getting tougher and then expect me to believe evil is not bound by the laws of physics--if so it's always been tough.

And--spare me the killer as philosopher. The first coin flip scene with the gas station owner is chlling and perfectly staged. But the same bit with carla jean is lame.

Lumpkin
Killed Carla Jean? If you blink while Chigurh is checking his shoes for blood, you would not know if he killed her or not without reading the book. How do we know he killed her in the book?

She is played by Kelly MacDonald, by the way (hot hottie from Trainspotting).

Kopp
Just in. No Country nominated for best picture - golden globes