Set in West Texas in the late 70s, 'No Country' plays as if it is a timeless piece, never in a need to rush the story along nor go into great details about the dicey situation its characters are wrapped up in. In short, the premise plays like this -- a Texan named Llewelyn Moss innocently discovers a suitcase full of money in the aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong. With all parties dead, he takes the money but does so with great caution. What I liked about this situation is that we ourselves often wonder what we might do if we come across a large sum of money with no one around to claim it. If taken, would someone soon be on your tail to chase it down? As Llewelyn accurately surmizes, that answer is yes and thus, the film is set in motion. The majority of the movie depicts the cat and mouse game between Llewelyn and his pursuers, which makes for a tremendously entertaining, if bloody, journey.

The key antagonist of the film, Anton Chigurh, is a terrifically dark and mysterious gentleman who is not altogether sane. His rigid yet unpredictable approach to catching his quarry is what sets him apart from the stock villians of other movies. Hey, who else can use an air gun to such destructive capabilities as we see featured in this film. The writing for this character was quite original and is vintage Coen.

The other key player in these matters is Tommy Lee Jones, who plays Sheriff Bell. What's interesting about his role is that it slowly becomes more substantial as the film progresses and we find out that this is more his story than it is about the other characters. As usual, Jones gives us another respectable performance and is a welcome addition to what is an outstanding cast. His character is what inspires the film's title, so that should give you an indication of where the focus of the script ultimately lies.

While I enjoyed the majority of 'No Country,' I found that the film lagged a bit when it became overly introspective with its characters. Granted, the story moves at a methodical pace (excluding the action sequences), but I think there was some room to speed up the pacing of the movie a notch. It's the dialogue heavy moments where the movie picks up its arthouse distinction, particularly with the ending sequence, which of course I won't reveal here.

Ultimately, "No Country For Old Men" might be a bit overhyped but it is still one of the top films of 2007. The directors clearly show that they are on top of their game as does the ensemble cast; there is not one suspect performance throughout. In fact, this is a movie driven by the performances of each actor so if there is a reason to give this one a repeat viewing, that would be it. There is a lot to like and respect about the work here and had this film been given a bit more of a commercial polish, than it might have trumped "American Gangster" as my favorite of the year. However, it will still make the top 5 list of most critics' lists and might even deliver the Coen Brothers an Oscar for their troubles. I think they'll take a second place from ScoreNotes in exchange for that!