No Country for Old Men

I wrote up a little review on Facebook. This is something I think I'll do from time to time. Here it is:

Lean, tense, uncompromising. Damn near perfect, and hard to take. What starts as a bloody and thrilling chase film turns out to be a haunting study of failed masculinity. A lot of people will have trouble with the last 20 minutes, as the Coens omit a couple of key moments of violence that would be gratuitous -- by then, nothing is more menacing than Javier Bardem casually checking his boot for blood as he exits yet another crime scene. They get major points for not pandering to the audience, although this means many will be confused by the ending -- anyone who missed what Tommy Lee Jones saw on the floor of the motel room might not understand the depths of his despair at the end, having failed to live up to the example of his father and uncle or to his responsibilities as a lawman to confront evil, even at risk to his own life.

This is the best American film, all around, in some time. Shame if its refusal to compromise -- especially in those last 20 minutes -- costs it the acclaim it deserves.