Favorite Movies Countdown — No. 12

12. No Country For Old Men (2007)

Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin

About: "The crime you see now, it's hard to even take its measure. It's not that I'm afraid of it. I always knew you had to be willing to die to even do this job. But, I don't want to push my chips forward and go out and meet something I don't understand. A man would have to put his soul at hazard. He'd have to say, 'O.K., I'll be part of this world.'" — Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, "No Country For Old Men"

I think "No Country For Old Men" is a cinematic masterpiece. In a good year for movies, it stood out above the rest, which is why it earned several Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Joel and Ethan Coen (who make their second appearance on this list) did an incredible job adapting the novel from Cormac McCarthy. The performances — particularly from Jones, Brolin, and Bardem — are strong, and the cinematic scope of the film is great.

No one quite writes dialogue like the Coen Brothers, and even though much of it is a faithful adaptation from the novel, they certainly put their stamp on the film. In addition, the bold decision to operate without a score adds gravity to the key sequences in the film. It is a beautifully idealized cinematic vision.

But there is another reason this film is on this list — I love what it has to say about faith, God, and the nature of man. That is the reason I chose to teach this film during my first round of "Faith in Film." I believe you see three central principles through the lens of each of the main characters — the weight of sin, the danger of relative truth, and the struggle to reconcile the evil in men with the nature of a loving God.

In the story of Llewellyn Moss (Brolin), you see the weight of sin. Moss stumbles upon money in the desert and, several times, he's told if he'll just give it up he can find salvation. Yet he doesn't, he tries to keep the money and save himself on his own, falling away to ruin and death. That is what sin does in our lives. It is an innocent temptation that isn't so innocent. If we give it up to God, we can be saved. But when we can't, it leads to our ruin.

Anton Chigurth (Bardem) represents the dangers of relative truth. Many feel he doesn't have a moral code and represents pure evil. I don't agree. It is clear he does have a moral code, one he follows more strictly than many people, yet his code does not reflect the values we would traditionally accept as just. That is the danger of individual, relative truth. If there is not absolute truth — which we hold as the Bible as Christians — than it is up to individuals to decide their own truth. What you get, at the terminal end of that ideology, is complete moral relativity. That is what you see in Chigurth.

With Sheriff Bell (Jones), you see the struggle to reconcile a loving God and what we'd all like to believe is his plan for the world with the evil that lies in men's hearts. Of course this is something believers and non-believers alike must struggle with. As Bell watches the events unfold, sees the destruction of Moss and his family and the ability of Chigurth to escape justice, he can't see past his own fear and disappointment. His answer is to withdraw from the world that he can't reconcile. That is, perhaps, a natural response, but not what God would have us do.

Still, I love to think about these ideas and see how richly this debate is conveyed through this powerful film.