# "No Country For Old Men" - upcoming Coen Bros. movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 15, 2006, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-country-for-old-men-upcoming-coen-bros-movie/368859 "2006-08-15T18:21:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-country-for-old-men-upcoming-coen-bros-movie/368859/1 "2006-08-15T18:21:09Z")
I see that the Coen Brothers are filming _No Country For Old Men_, which will star Tommy Lee Jones, Woody Harrelson, James Brolin, and others. I did a quick Google and see that the story is about lost/found drug money and innocent folks getting mixed up with Very Bad Guys and a deal gone wrong. Who has read this book? Does it seem like a good basis for a Coen Brothers film? After having been vastly disappointed in _The Ladykillers_, I’m happy to see them returning to a byzantine murder/money/mixup thriller. Oh, and here’s the IMDB [link](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0477348/). ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-country-for-old-men-upcoming-coen-bros-movie/368859/2 "2006-08-15T18:45:33Z")
I’ve been pondering this for a while, ever since I heard the Coens were developing the movie. Because of their involvement, I read the novel by Cormac McCarthy a few months ago. I really enjoyed it; it’s slightly less bloody than _Blood Meridian_, the only other McCarthy book I’ve read, but only slightly so. I’m really surprised that the Coens have elected to make a movie out of it (which is not to say that I’m not looking forward to it). There’s just not that much humor in it, let alone Coen-esque humor. If they stick to the novel without adding many of their own personal touches, it’ll definitely be more in the vein of _Blood Simple_ than _The Ladykillers_. I mean, \*Fargo \* had some pretty graphic violence in it, but the movie overall is hilarious. _No Country For Old Men_, the book, isn’t funny in the least. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-country-for-old-men-upcoming-coen-bros-movie/368859/3 "2006-08-15T19:25:08Z")
The book has been in my purchase queue forever. For some reason I just keep skipping over it. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-country-for-old-men-upcoming-coen-bros-movie/368859/4 "2006-08-16T01:36:02Z")
> [@Gordon Urquhart](#): > > I’ve been pondering this for a while, ever since I heard the Coens were developing the movie. Because of their involvement, I read the novel by Cormac McCarthy a few months ago. I really enjoyed it; it’s slightly less bloody than _Blood Meridian_, the only other McCarthy book I’ve read, but only slightly so. > > I’m really surprised that the Coens have elected to make a movie out of it (which is not to say that I’m not looking forward to it). There’s just not that much humor in it, let alone Coen-esque humor. > > If they stick to the novel without adding many of their own personal touches, it’ll definitely be more in the vein of _Blood Simple_ than _The Ladykillers_. I mean, \*Fargo \* had some pretty graphic violence in it, but the movie overall is hilarious. _No Country For Old Men_, the book, isn’t funny in the least. Sounds promising to me. It’s been a long time since _Miller’s Crossing_ and _Barton Fink_. Glad to see them going back to that well for a change. ---
**Author:** ![pesch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pesch/32/4925_2.png) [@pesch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pesch)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-country-for-old-men-upcoming-coen-bros-movie/368859/5 "2006-08-16T02:44:15Z")
Yeah, it’s ideal for the brothers. It’s a bleak book, and if they follow the story, the movie could be a throwback to “Blood Simple.” It’s full of ponderous thoughts, unexpected plot twists, and dusty, dry Texas roads. I thought it fell apart in the last third, and McCarthy’s Deep Thoughts about violence and the drug trade was unsupportable and unrealistic. But the man’s a great writer. FWIW, [here’s my review of the book.](http://www.planetpeschel.com/index/reviews/bookreview/cormac_country/) Warning: Here lie extensive spoilers. ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-country-for-old-men-upcoming-coen-bros-movie/368859/6 "2006-08-16T02:54:33Z")
I’ve never read the book, but it does sound like a very good basis. Your description almost looks like it came from some kind of “Coen Brothers movie generator”, that’s how good of a basis it is. I’m looking forward to it. I really like the Coens. I thought Blood Simple had a good amount of comedy, but my memory might be wrong. It was the most Hitchcockian movie not made by Hitchcock that I’ve seen, and it had the same sort of sense of humor as his movies. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-country-for-old-men-upcoming-coen-bros-movie/368859/7 "2006-08-16T13:26:51Z")
> [@Talon Karrde](#): > > I thought Blood Simple had a good amount of comedy, but my memory might be wrong. It was the most Hitchcockian movie not made by Hitchcock that I’ve seen, and it had the same sort of sense of humor as his movies. I don’t think your memory is off. I always laugh, in a sort of sick, frightened way, at vomiting Marty and the difficulty at getting him from the car to his final resting place. And the private dick has his own way of being funny - maybe it’s just the way he talks. Given the Coen way of embracing/lampooning American hicks and their accents, I’m looking forward to what Tommy Lee Jones can do in one of their films - and in a Texas setting, too. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-country-for-old-men-upcoming-coen-bros-movie/368859/8 "2006-08-16T20:18:35Z")
Hasn’t this been done already, with snowmobiles?