Original discussion here:

http://archive.theskyiscrape.com/viewto ... 60&start=0

Anyone revisit this lately? Discuss!

Savage

I need to. Haven't thought of it in awhile but I think this is a good example to show my son of "bad guys who completely overpower the good guys".

I've been using the imdb Parents Guide for movies and I check the one for this movie. I laughed:

So you can't say those but you'll say the others. Alright then.

love this movie

This movie does not hold up well at all IMO. One of their worst.

you should try watching it above a fireplace

You continue to confound me, LV.

Brolin going back out to the desert with the water at night is one of the dumbest fucking things I’ve ever seen in a movie and it irritates me so much that it’s hard for me to go past that part in the movie.

I can see that. I mean, that many hours later? If he had gone back sooner then I'd get it but a man who lives in the desert (and had the training he had) probably should have known better about how long someone who was shot could survive, let alone need water for.

Thankfully I'm still OK with that.

FWIW, it's exactly what happens in the book. In fact, this movie adheres closer to the source material than any other adaptation I've ever seen by a wide margin. Virtually every singly scene, right down to the exact dialogue, is taken from the novel. The only difference between the two is Llewellyn's relationship with the "beer leads to more beer" girl, which is depicted somewhat differently in the novel.

Yeah, I figured as much. McCarthy is a dumbass. The Coens never should have tainted their cinematic talents with the dreck that is his writing.

Ehh....His writing is especially sparse in No Country, along the lines of The Road. Lots of empty space on every page, and very little description of emotions, no internal monologues whatsoever. Just location and dialogue. Probably a great bit of source material considering how malleable it is.

Apparently not

Here's the text from the novel:

Spoiler: show

She woke while he was getting dressed and turned in the bed to watch him.

Llewelyn?

Yeah.

What are you doin?

Gettin dressed.

Where are you goin?

Out.

Where are you goin, baby?

Somethin I forgot to do. I'll be back.

What are you goin to do?

He opened the drawer and took the .45 out and ejected the clip and checked it and put it back
and put the pistol in his belt. He turned and looked at her.

I'm fixin to go do somethin dumbern hell but I'm goin anyways. If I dont come back tell Mother I love her.

Your mother's dead Llewelyn.

Well I'll tell her myself then.

She sat up in the bed. You're scarin the hell out of me, Llewelyn. Are you in some kind of trouble?

No. Go to sleep.

Go to sleep?

I'll be back in a bit.

Damn you, Llewelyn.

He stepped back into the doorway and looked at her. What if I was to not come back? Is them your last words?

She followed him down the hallway to the kitchen pulling on her robe. He took an empty gallon jug from under the sink and stood filling it at the tap.

Do you know what time it is? she said.

Yeah. I know what time it is.

Baby I dont want you to go. Where are you goin? I dont want you to go.

Well darlin we're eye to eye on that cause I dont want to go neither. I'll be back. Dont wait up on me.

He pulled in at the filling station under the lights and shut off the motor and got the survey map from the glovebox and unfolded it across the seat and sat there studying it. He finally marked where he thought the trucks should be and then he traced a route cross country back to Harkle's cattle-gate. He had a good set of all-terrain tires on the truck and two spares in the bed but this was some hard country. He sat looking at the line he'd drawn. Then he bent and studied the terrain and drew another one. Then he just sat there looking at the map. When he started the engine and pulled out onto the highway it was two-fifteen in the morning, the road deserted, the truck radio in this outland country dead even of static from one end of the band to the other

I think it's a vital scene for the reader/viewer, because it demonstrates that Llewelyn has a merciful side, a good heart that is in conflict with the opportunity he originally stumbled onto out in the desert. And it's what serves to get him into trouble; he's bringing water to a dying drug runner when he's first identified and shot by the people searching for him. But if only he had let his greed take over, and stayed in bed with his wife, everything would have turned out fine for them. It's brutal how his conscience ultimately leads to his downfall, and it fits into the larger themes of the story perfectly.

Yes, I think it’s extremely obvious that that is what it’s conveying. That’s part of why I hate it. It’s as subtle as a brick through a window. And it makes no fucking sense because there’s no way that guy would be that much of a moron. Anyone with a brain would know that dude would be long dead by then.

Well i guess i can understand why you might dislike it, on account of it lacks subtlety. But again, Llewelyn acknowledges it with "sumthin' dumber n' dirt, but i'm fixin' to do it anyway." It's a fine device to move the plot forward, because it also adds a ton of character development with just a few lines.

I love Llewellyn Moss, one of my favorite literary characters of all time. His simple life with his loving wife in their trailer, hunting antelope, nowhere to go and nowhere to be. He has everything right in the palm of his hands when he stumbles onto that shootout, and through his empathy -- not his greed, as 99% of all other writers would have done -- he sets himself up for failure, and he even had an inkling it would happen.

I know I won't change your mind, but the discussion has helped me better define why I like that part so much.

oh also i LOVE the way the Coens shot the dog chasing Llewelyn into the river, which again wouldn't happen without this setup

Now I get why you guys like him: you’re as dumb as he is