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It's a bit of a headfuck really.
Essentially, the filmmakers aren't really too concerned with wrapping things up neatly. They don't give a shit about the bad guy being vanquished by the good guys. They don't care about justice, and they certainly don't care about "resolution".
In fact, by the time the ending rolls around, the entire coda with Tommy Lee Jones meeting with various peers (e.g. eating in that diner with another sheriff, out in that desert shack with his retired friend who has all the cats, at home with his wife reminiscing about his career) is meant to bring the viewer around to the realization that this movie is not your typical action/thriller kinda flick, but actually a study about the encroachment of greed and sheer fucking evil on the American landscape. About how evil is marching forward increasingly stronger and faster (the movie is set in the early 80s I believe, at least the book was), and how those who once stood for some kind of righteousness (e.g. - the old men) are essentially powerless in the face of it.
In short, there's no place for them in this new world, particularly, in this new America... No Country For Old Men... Everything's going to shit, and while there have always been "bad men", the bad men and the forces at work now are completely without conscience, remorse or pity. They start meaningless wars and suck the life out of everything and everyone around them: presidents, the heads of huge multi-national corporations, serial killers, second-rate pseudo-gangsta rappers just trying to make a buck and poisoning the minds of so many. (Well, that last part is just me getting carried away a bit.)
In fact, it seems that the film argues it has always been this way (cat dude telling the story about his grandfather or somebody getting killed by a bunch of bandits), and that, simply put, the good guys don't always save the day. Furthermore, their chances are getting slimmer and slimmer. Grim hopelessness and all that stuff...
That's what's at work here (by my interpretation at least), but really, it's up to you the viewer to decide if the film's tone and themes have been communicated effectively.
Personally, I absolutely loved the shit. But, despite all the praise and awards and whatever, a lot of people didn't get it, and certainly didn't love it. Fuck everything that I said though. Check it out again sometime in the future and see how it sits with you.
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The underground Caribbean classic, "Paradise Low", now featuring two new bonus tracks including "The Way I Move (WEmix)" feat. Trezay & Billy Kincaid.
Download the album and check the music videos out at:
www.fitzroy-music.com www.myspace.com/fitzroymusic
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