There was a recent article I read that said that Javier Bardem’s portrayal of Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men is the most accurate portrayal of a psychopath in film history.  I don’t know if that’s a compliment to Bardem or, if you watch this film in close tandem with Skyfall, a reason to scream if you ever see him coming at you.  In both performances, as he is always, Bardem is astounding and deserved his Oscar for this film.

No Country for Old Men may be one of the most frustrating films that I’ve ever seen.  The first hour is perfect, then something goes horribly awry and the back-end of the film is an incoherent mess leading to one of the worst endings in any “Best Picture” I’ve ever seen.  You can’t deny the perfection of the “Coin Toss” scene, though.  It’s tense, brilliantly written and a completely iconic moment for Chigurh’s character.  No matter how frustrated I become at the movie’s second half, I could watch this scene a thousand times.  The Coen Brothers are hit and miss with me like that.  Their latest, Hail Caesar, is getting good reviews and should be something to check out when it hits theaters this week.