Having been a fan of the Coen siblings for many years, it's great to see them back on top form after the disappointment of their last couple of films. Neither "Intolerable Cruelty" nor "The Ladykillers" lived up to expectations.

In No Country for Old Men, they not only return to the high standard we've come to expect, but produce one of their best ever films. Reminiscent of Fargo in it's bleakness of landscape, and also the nice little plot twists. It starts off with Llewelyn Moss (Brolin) discovering the aftermath of a drugs deal gone bad. He finds a case with two million dollars in it and naturally decides to keep the money, completely disregarding the possible consequences. This proves to be a major mistake. The person sent to recover the money, Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), is a cold blooded, merciless killer who decides the fate of his victims on the toss of a coin. His weapon of choice is a cattle gun.

So we have our "hero" Moss, being chased by a psychopath and bringing up the rear, the "old man" of the title, sheriff Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones). The calm, slow, purposeful demeanour of the sheriff serves to accent the sudden bouts of extreme violence. As the movie reaches it's conclusion it seems to be something of an anti climax, and judging by the moans of some of the audience, does fall short of tying up a few loose ends, but as an excercise in masterful movie making there is little to better it.

Asolutely essential viewing.