Sure there a couple of good lines of dialogue and the Coen Brothers' eye for detail captures Texas interiors circa 1970 perhaps as no one has before, but, consider this: If you're thinking about going to see No Country for Old Men, why not just ask a good friend to punch you right in the face? You'll feel the same, and you'll save nine bucks.
Not too long ago I said I wasn't going to watch any more movies with only one woman in them, and if I'd followed my own rule I wouldn't have gone. There's something sincerely creepy happening in movies right now, there are hardly any women. I guess it should come as no surprise that the president of Warner Bros. said they'll no longer be making movies with women in the lead! Women compose half the population and we're being excluded from inclusion in popular culture. It's a really bizarre representation of the world.
Now, for my money, the movie to see right now is Lars and the Real Girl, which features a number of terrific actresses and one lifeless one. Lars (Ryan Gosling) is a slightly troubled young man living in some small, far northern town who orders a Real Doll, introducing her as his shy girlfriend to friends and family. Because they love him, everyone plays along, even helping to create a busy social life for "Bianca". What's most interesting is how the film is not really about sex at all, but about companionship and strong relationships. In fact, Lars never has sex with his doll/girlfriend (she's very religious, see?)
It's a beautiful film with strong performances by Emily Mortimer and Patricia Clarkson (if you haven't seen All the Real Girls with Clarkson and Paul Schneider, check it out) that I think speaks to how most of us find ways to make life more bearable, even if it sounds crazy.
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Possible Spoilers below:
There are several women in that movie, maybe not in lead roles, but in roles that have importance to the plot.
Besides the main guy's wife, there is the Sheriff's wife (who seems to be running some kind of cool horse business), the mother-in-law (who gets the dude killed), and the lady who runs the trailer park and faces down the psycho-killer (one of the few people to face him and survive in the whole movie).
Oh, come on, those women have about five lines, altogether. I'm talking about CHARACTERS.
Also, how many times do I have to tell you not to correct me? It sickens me.
Kel-Kel,
Please tell me the Warner Bros. thing is a snark... PLEASE tell me that high level of stupidity is still NOT roaming around this country? WTF??
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