No Country For Old Men

thoughtpolice, I agree

#16 I though he went to see the wife because he made a deal with Josh Brolin's character that he would kill his wife if Brolin didn't bring him the money. His twisted 'code of honour' demanded that he carry out his promise and kill the wife even though Brolin was dead.

That is what I thought anyway but maybe I got it all wrong!

you could well be right #21, though that does not explain why Jones foresaw his death later.
how many movies leave both this strong sense of ambiguity and satisfaction?

i took the dream differently.

it reminded me of several references to "carrying the fire" in McCarthy's The Road, which dealt heavily with a father and son relationship amidst the savagery of a post apocalypse dog eat dog world. it goes back to the conversation with the other sheriff about the human behavior, once sir and ma'am disappear, the rest soon follows.... Jones' father set the path for him, taught him right and wrong. invested him with the basic humanity. its a view of life that puts a high value on making the right choices. a view of life completely at odds with that implied by Chirug's coin flipping game and related comments.

as for the foretelling of death, that is exactly what I saw in Chigrug's random car crash. his unlucky coin has found him and he ends up in the same weakened situation that Brolin found himself in when on the path to his doom.

but now that you've mentioned the dream as TLJ foretelling his own death, i'll have to try that on for size.

the dream.... it is a First Nations reference to tradition and practice, when you are on a long journey somebody goes ahead to prepare the fire for the others.... his father was long dead and told his son (Jones) that he would meet him soon at the fire......

in that case i'd have to say there is no doubt that you're right.

Chigurh had the money, he went to the hotel room and got it after Brolin was killed. As said above he new exactly where to look. I also agree he killed the wife on principal which reinforces that he had the money; I'm not sure about the TLB dream. What is the reason for Chigurh to come after TLJ? Wasn't Chigurh hiding in the hotel room when TLJ went back? I do not recall any moment in the film where Chigurh was even aware of who TLJ was. Their only connection was that they were both looking for the Brolin character.

I thought the most interesting moment of the film was the wife's speech where she forced Chigurh to be accountable for his actions.

I've been so busy that I haven't seen any new releases let alone heard of them. Thank you, this flick sounds very good.

just discovered that the cormacmccarthy.com forums have an extensive thread about NCFOM. i think you have to register.

This is an old thread so I'm not sure if any of you follows it up. Anyway....
I saw the film last night and thought it was great.
I agree mostly with Sk8erBoi #23.
Moreover, to me, it didn't really matter who took the money, or if and when Ed Tom (TL Jones) would die, or be killed.
The ending was perfectly timed. Intentionally difuse but also universal in it's meaning. The good and the bad have always been, and always will be - the righteous one and the valiant (the psychopatic murderer), no matter what we do, or whether it's 1980 or today.
Ed Tom Bell sees his future in the dream but he is still alive, Chigurh could have died, but he lives and walks away. It's left open and uncertain, and like in real life, there is no win and no punishment.