No Country for Old Men

[PWS]

I don't think there's a thread for this yet, which is surprising... Great flick, but a little confusing at the ending.
My SO and I aren't clear what is happening at the next to last scene, in the motel. If you've seen it please read the spoiler below and let me know what YOU thought.
[[ So what I think is happening is that the sheriff pulls up to the El Paso motel just as the Mexican "bad guys" are running for their lives. They don't seem to be carrying any money. Has the really bad guy arrived as they were attacking the "hero" and scared them away? Did the hero shoot at them before dying and the noise scared them away? The sheriff then returns to the scene of the crime in the motel, and at that point the really bad guy has clearly been there, as the lock has been blown out. I thought the sheriff could maybe even see the reflection of the bad guy in the lock, meaning the bad guy was inside. You also see the bad guy in a dark hotel room, with a circular ray of light coming in, as if through one of the blown out locks. So the impression you get it that the bad guy is in the room that the sheriff is outside of (although there are 2 adjoining motel rooms in the crime scene tapes, so maybe not). The sheriff opens the door and does NOT turn on the light, standing silloutted in the door frame for quite a while, backlit. Then he goes to the bathroom and turns on the lights. Then he comes back and sits on the bed and apparently sees that someone has used a coin to unscrew the AC vent--so presumably the hero hid the money there again, and since the bad guy figured t hat out from the vent scratch marks at the earlier motel presumably the bad guy has used the coins to open the vent and take the money. But the bad guy is not in the motel room.
So...was the bad guy in the other room for some reason? Maybe he looked for money in that room first and then went to the other room and found it? Or was he in that room behind the door and slipped out when the sheriff went into the bathroom?
My SO thinks the bad guy was in the adjoining room and that the sheriff somehow knew that but didn't go after him, and that's why the sheriff retired. Because he felt he couldn't do the job anymore...and he feels (dreams he let his dad down). Or you could say he knew the bad guy was behind the door...although that would be taking quite a risk, to walk by him and trust the guy would run, not shoot. OK, let us know who's right, who's wrong, or what totally different ideas you have. Thanks!
PS Also my SO for some reason thought the motel the sheriff went back to in the last scene was not the El Paso motel but the earlier one, but I think that makes NO sense! ]]

[Google]

 

[snickers]

honestly i think you've given too much thought into it lol

i think it was just an open ending....who knows what happened to the money or the characters.....i wouldn't call lou-ellen's (spelling?) character a hero by any means

that said though, this was an awesome movie

[PWS]

Originally Posted by snickers

honestly i think you've given too much thought into it lol

i think it was just an open ending....who knows what happened to the money or the characters.....i wouldn't call lou-ellen's (spelling?) character a hero by any means

that said though, this was an awesome movie

Aw shucks, was hoping someone else was as obsessed as we were! Yeah, you can hardly call someone who steals drug money a hero, but since I wasn't about to try spelling the Welsh name Llwellyn (I know that's wrong, but there are definitely double LLs in there somewhere) that was my short cut!

[snickers]

try reading the wikipedia page of the movie, i think some of your questions may be answered

[PWS]

Originally Posted by snickers

try reading the wikipedia page of the movie, i think some of your questions may be answered

Thank you!!!

[pwettybird]

I was 50/50 on this movie with liking it and not liking it. I thought that it was good, but I felt like there could have been more added to it or the way that it ended could have been different.

[sreeja]

It's not easy to watch 'No Country for Old Men.' The first time I saw it, I found myself dazed enough to not be able to stand-up immediately even after the whole end credits have finished. And yet, mixed with the feeling of shock is
the profound sense of wonder and awe with what I have just witnessed on the screen.

[straycat80]

I just watched No Country For Old Men. I didn't like it nor did I hate it. It held my interest but I really didn't like the ending.

[AJane]

I haven't read the book yet, but if it does end the same way as the film, I believe the ending would make more sense. The way the film ended made me think that the Coens were possibly attempting to drag the story back to incorporate Cormac McCarthy's original theme, after 100 minutes of straight-up blood and violence. No doubt there are plenty of nuances in the written story that weren't captured on film. It made me want to read the book but I could do without seeing the movie again.

As far as all the Oscar adulation for the film went - I think Josh Brolin got screwed. He was brilliant as Llewelyn (I looked up the spelling ) as was Tommy Lee Jones as Ed Tom. Before I watched the movie, I was inclined to like Javier Bardem - love it when an actor can really sink his/her teeth into the role of a murderer - but I honestly feel his performance was overrated. The haircut, though, was as bad as I'd heard.

[Florimel]

Originally Posted by AJane

As far as all the Oscar adulation for the film went - I think Josh Brolin got screwed. He was brilliant as Llewelyn (I looked up the spelling ) as was Tommy Lee Jones as Ed Tom. Before I watched the movie, I was inclined to like Javier Bardem - love it when an actor can really sink his/her teeth into the role of a murderer - but I honestly feel his performance was overrated. The haircut, though, was as bad as I'd heard.

I agree. Josh Brolin gave an excellent performance. Tommy Lee Jones was outstanding -- no surprise there, he always is. Javier Bardem was quite good, but I felt there were better supporting actor performances, including Tom Wilkinson.