Parents' Guide to

No Country for Old Men

By Cynthia Fuchs, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 17+

Coens' violent film is brutal, thought-provoking.

Movie R 2007 116 minutes
No Country for Old Men Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 15+

Based on 18 parent reviews

BlitzGuy20
BlitzGuy20 Parent of 8-year-old
February 7, 2021
age 13+

Terrific film has incredibly realistic violence

No Country for Old Men is a very symbolic and differential film from others, however it is extremely violent. VIOLENCE: At the beginning, a man is strangled with metal hand cuffs violently for a very extended time. They drop the floor, the man still strangling the other, until eventually the cuffs cut into his neck and blood sprays out all over the floor and on his body. This is a very gruesome scene. One of the killers signature weapons is a captive bolt stunner, or a bolt gun. In one scene he lifts it up to a mans head and shoots him with it up close in screen, causing blood to come out and a bloody hole to appear on his head. This scene, like most other violent acts in the film is very in your face and graphic. A man discovers many dead bodies showing graphic wounds, blood all over the ground etc. and he discovers one man alive with bloody wounds begging for water as blood pours from his mouth. 2 men are suddenly shot, one in the face on screen (extremely sudden) the act is quite bloody. Several men are shot with a suppressed shotgun. The first man is shot from a distance, and his arm is shot which causes his arm to hang off like a thread briefly and he is shot again splattering blood and killing him. The next man is shot in the bathroom killing him and spraying blood again, and the third surrenders, but the killer pulls the shower curtain over and shoots it so we don’t see he impact but only blood from the other side. A man is shot once through the neck pouring blood and then another in the head suddenly causing more blood. It is also referenced someone is killed off camera. A man shoots another man, but doesn’t kill him. We see the aftermath of a massive wound over his leg (skin almost completely off) and he treats it with tons of blood shown, however the man creepily enjoys it. He is shown pouring things in it, injecting it etc. A man is suddenly shotgunned, however the impact is barely shown as its cut from camera view. A man is shot with a shotgun and falls off his chair when we see him on the ground gargling as blood pours from his neck for an extended period of time. Very bloody. Several people are implied dead throughout the entire movie, so it’s up to the imagination of the people watching a lot of times. A ton of people are shown dead, one man is shown floating dead in the pool surrounded by bloody water, and another man dead on the motel floor disturbingly. A man suddenly crashes his car, he exits covered in bloody face wounds and then his broken leg is shown with bone exposed sticking out of the leg. 2 kids help and he walks away. Overall this is a very violent film. LANGUAGE: Around 2 uses of f*ck, some use of b*tch. Overall the language is mild. DRUGS/ALCOHOL/TOBACCO USE: Packaged drugs are shown in the back of a vehicle, people smoke, drink etc. OVERALL: 13+

This title has:

Too much violence
1 person found this helpful.
Mansiondamasion
Mansiondamasion Adult
April 24, 2020
age 13+

Mansiondamansion

Mansiondamansion

This title has:

Too much violence
1 person found this helpful.
See all 18 parent reviews

What's the Story?

"Can't help but compare yourself against the old times." Pondering the changes between his father's generation and his own, Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) sounds weary. But even if today's outlaws are more extremely vicious and absurdly cunning, he reasons that at some point "You have to say, 'Okay, I'll be part of this world.'" The consequences of this choice for Ed Tom make up one part of the Coen brothers' NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. As the lawman in a West Texas bordertown circa 1980, Ed Tom is pursuing two men. First up is local cowboy/Vietnam veteran Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), who's stumbled on close to $2 million in drug money and taken it from the aftermath of an exceedingly bloody shoot-out. Ed Tom hopes to bring Llewelyn in before he's found by the second man, notorious killer Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), who intends to get the money back, both for his employers and for his own psychopathic satisfaction. The film follows each man's journey as they elude and hunt one another, crossing all manner of borders in the process -- between ethical and criminal, professional and personal, America and Mexico. Their intersections ultimately lead to bloodshed and revelation.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (18):
Kids say (46):

The desolate landscape and moral layout evoke old Westerns, but the film also reconsiders that genre's conventions, suggesting comparisons between now and "the old times." So while Ed Tom follows clues and questions witnesses -- including Lleweleyn's wise, forgiving young wife Carla Jean (Kelly Macdonald) -- he's always a slight step behind his prey, recognizing Anton's extreme iniquity even before Llewelyn does. Though the war vet and the killer do match wits for some time in some deliciously tense, beautifully shot cat-and-mouse scenes, the sheriff knows that in a showdown, decency can't keep up with depravity.

Smart and compelling throughout, the film includes some stunning set-pieces, including a scene in which Llewelyn runs up a shallow river away from a ferocious hunting dog (the two shapes bobbing as they try to muster speed against the current is a sight you won't soon forget), and another in which he sits in a dark hotel room, shotgun on his lap, waiting for Anton's arrival. As a smooth-talking bounty hunter named Carson Wells, Woody Harrelson provides a few moments of welcome off-rhythm distance from Anton and Llewelyn's contest, but their intense focus on each other is overwhelming, even leading to a confrontation between Anton and Carla Jean, who refuses to participate in the coin-flip he offers. "The coin don't have no say," she says, eyeing him darkly. "It's just you."

Andin the end, it is just Anton, his bizarre, amoral meanness emblematic of the changes that Ed Tom perceives. Whether these changes are a function of his own aging, altered perspective, or a kind of national psychic shift, the film leaves for you to figure.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the film's use of violence. Does violence have the same impact in a movie like this as in an action movie like Live Free or Die Hard? Why or why not? Which type of movie violence do you find more affecting and/or upsetting? How do the Coens use filmmaking techniques to spark specific emotions in their audience? Do you think this film can be considered a Western? Why or why not?

Movie Details

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