I watched this movie this weekend. For most of it, it was good. I had no idea what it was all about but heard it was a pretty bleak movie. As I was watching it, it seemed more of a quiet thriller like Fargo. I was annoyed with HOW the main character makes a stupid mistake by going back to the scene and thus propelling the rest of the plot. For me that's hard to watch, but the movie went along and I was genuinely on the edge of my seat.

However....

Once Louellen gets killed...from that moment the movie falls apart. I had to actually rewind the part where you see him dead. I can't believe that his death was so unsatisfactory and wasn't shown. Then I was left wondering "What Now? Only to find out there was no more to the story except that LAME dialog Tommy Lee has at the end (What was his purpose anyway?) Honestly I was so disappointed with the ending it ruined the rest of it for me.

I thought the movie was awesome up until the end. I'm starting to tire of these films with all these unusual plot twists. It was fun and fresh for a while but I would like to see a happy ending again. In this day and age the whole "bad-guy gets away with it" just seems so wrong...

RenHoek said:

I too tire of the twist that makes the whole movie seem to be nothing...like you watch a whole movie only to have the whole thing turn upon itself in a non-sensical or logical fashion. Vanilla Sky: Kiss my ass!

But for me it wasn't a twist with this movie. It sort of non-ended. If it had ended with the shot of him dead at the end, I'd be a tad disappointed that it was anti-climatic. For me ti was that the movie plodded on for really no reason.

Yeah

was on my list of movies

RenHoek said:

I totally agree with you.

speaking of bad endings, i HATED the ending for Number23.

the craptastic writers and directors used the cheapest of all tricks known - they kept the audience in the dark about an absolutely crucial plot factor until literally the very end of the movie.

namely, had we KNOWN FROM THE START that he had amnesia, the rest of the movie would have been a no-brainer.

boo. thumbs down, motherfuckers

ok. thanks for listening. carry on

XxAxX said:

Stymie said:

well, really. they strung us along and strung us along until at the very end they mention like, 'oh yeah, by the way, the main character had amnesia the entire time'

that's CHEATING.

I loved it, even with the unusual ending. It's like reading something in the paper about a mysterious murder and then never get to hear how the story ended....because they never caught the guy who did it and people just move on to the next exciting story. That's it. You don't always get the answers you're looking for.

There are penty of movies with happy ending. Most of them are so fucking unrealistic, but no one's complaining about that because they leave the theatre feeling good.

XxAxX said:

While I do like the actual #23, that movie was complete trash.

XxAxX said:

I didn't even watch it til the end. That one was just horrible. I think I turned it off after 25 minutes and I hardly ever do that.

THHHHHAAANNK YOU!!!!!

XxAxX said:

Well, I guess I can avoid this movie now that I know. Would that reveal have ruined it if you knew? Or was it all part of the mystery?

eikonoklastes said:

I wasn't expecting a happy ending. I was expecting that we would get to have a satisfactory ending at least for Louellen. But we get more of an after the fact. It would have helped to know who all the players were and their motivations.

superspaceboy said:

aw crap. sorry. it's been out for a year so i thought you would know about it by now.

and NO, that's the point. the mystery is why the writers and director betrayed the audience by withholding this one, VITAL clue. had we known from the start of the movie every last member of the audience would have guessed the "surprise ending"

SAY THAT AGAIN!

garganta said:

Who was that as an actor? Also who played the lead?

The other movie that received critical acclaim was "There Will Be Blood" - I'm 3/4 through this and I'm like Lots of dramatic music and telling the story of a money hungry assh*le, is that it?

This movie just kept my attention because of Spanish pyscho with the oatmeal man haircut...

Slave2daGroove said:

I could not get through the 1st 10 minutes of this flick.

superspaceboy said:

what do you mean? that´s Javier Bardem and the lead was played
by Josh Brolin

superspaceboy said:

uhm.....he's the dude who won an Oscar for this role....

superspaceboy said:

true, I totally agree.

eikonoklastes said:

I also totally agree with that.....



shit, gotta love them Coen-brothers.....and whoever wrote the story!

life is an unhappy random act

this movie lives up to that premise

i loved it

had to watch it 3 times to see what i

mis interpeted

superspaceboy said:

HA HA!!

yeah, this part confused the hell outta me.

i actually though Louellen got away with the cash! i was talkin' to a friend about it and he was like "LouEllen got killed at the motel!"

sooooo....anyways, yeah, i loved it!

i loved "There Will Be Blood" too!

shausler said:

The movie was a masterpiece. If things aren't wrapped into a neat bow, that doesn't mean its no good.

The Coen Bros. generally don't make character-driven movies (although there are exceptions to this).

And for those that are also critiquing There Will Be Blood..... Stop!!

I enjoyed this film.

magnificentsynthesizer said:

thats why i liked this film

because when i first watched it, i didnt know who killed him, i didnt know that there was a second tracer

i didnt know that the mexicans who approached his mother inlaw where the killers

i had to actually think with this film

and pay attention

what a concept for a me a guy who never reads the whole first post of a thread lol

superspaceboy said:

I think it's a matter of perspective. I look at it a lot differently:

Llewellyn wasn't the lead. Anton Chigurh (played by Javier Bardem) was.

We establish early on that Llewellyn is as dumb as a tick, in way over his head and stupidly thinking he can take on a psychopath just because he was a 'Nam vet.

Chigurh belongs in the same pantheon of villains that houses Darth Vader and Hannibal Lecter. And, that's why the Coen brothers go through great lengths to give him the best lines, the most outlandish scenes and the opportunities to impact everyone he comes in contact with. The tension he brought to the screen drove that film.

Llewellyn was but a foil used to flesh out Chigurh. That's why his death was treated so insignificantly.

ThreadBare said:

I always thought the sheriff was the main character and that was why the movie ends with him retiring.