In Case You Missed It Two: No Country for Old Men and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry

No Country for Old Men is quirky ride that is both captivating and frustrating. It is difficult to see this movie as the best picture of 2007 because it feels incomplete. Joel and Ethan Coen have done something magnificent for three fourths of a film. The movie is shot beautifully and the performances of Josh Brolin (Llellwyn Moss) and Javier Bardem’s haunting portrayal of Antone Chigurh are well done. There are so many things to love about this movie, but for most of you, you’ll end up hating it. It feels like a lost investment.
Josh Brolin plays the “everyman” as Moss and at first it seems apparent that the Coens want him to be the lead protagonist. He “stumbles” upon two million dollars after a violent drug deal has gone wrong in the Texas badlands. Moss’s dilemma is about “what to do with the money?” He decides to put his young wife into early retirement and keep the money. What ensues is a cat and mouse chase between Moss and a psychotic hitman named Antone Chigurh. Brolin is put into some very pulse pounding situations and proves to be a more than serviceable adversary for a professional like Chigurh. Brolin plays Moss as someone who is resourceful in life and death situations. This makes for some the most intense scenes on screen you’ll ever see.
Javier Bardem’s Antone Chigurh is frightening as a villain. He lacks a conscious and has one of the more unique ways of killing a victim. He to is resourceful and plays by a different set of rules. Bardem deserves credit for creating a character that is involving and truly scary. He is representative of something we cannot understand. Chigurh is the Coens greatest achievement in this movie. Bardem’s Chigurh turns a quarter into a life changing event for victims and this makes for a scene that is beyond doubt a classic cinematic moment.
Tommy Lee Jones plays the cop who is at the end of his career and is “blessed” with the unenviable task of hunting down both men. He is the “old man” in the title and want nothing more to end his working life on a high note by solving the mystery behind the missing two million dollars. Jones plays a role we are familiar with. The fugitives name however is not Dr. Richard Kimble. Jones is probably the most interesting character in the film, but at times his portrayal is at times, disjointed. There are some scenes between Jones and his deputy that are true gems.
So, what is wrong with No Country for Old Men? The ending is so frustrating that it is impossible to “love” this movie. I know the movie is based off of the book by Cormac McCarthy and a metaphor for putting the old working class people out to pasture after they have served there use to society. Jones speaks in metaphors in the final act and frankly it doesn’t work. Metaphors are a LITERARY DEVICE saved for books. Film-goers invest two hours and are rewarded with a metaphor. If they wanted that they could have picked up a copy of the book. The reason this movie is disappointing is that it is EXCELLENT for the most part, but leaves viewers feeling empty by the end credits. There is No Country for unfinished movies.

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry is a complete disgrace to hetero and homosexuals. I want to say that I really like Kevin James and I think Adam Sandler is a very talented actor. They have a chance to really make a statement here and drop the proverbial ball. This is NOT an impactful drama or a comedy. Those of you that laughed should be ashamed. This film is most offensive towards intelligent heterosexuals.
Sandler and James play New York City firefighters. James plays the family man who lost his wife too early and is raising two young children. Sandler is Mr. February in the firehouse yearly calendar of “sexy” firemen. He is the womanizing party animal. James and his family are denied benefits that his children seem to be entitled to if he dies on the job, but because of his deceased wife and single status the city of New York in their infinite wisdom has revoked his benefits unless he can prove he is married. He enters into what is supposed to be the holy union of marriage with his best friend. The premise is that this arrangement will allow him to take care of his children if he dies on the job. Sandler reluctantly agrees to marry his best friend in Canada.
This movie fails miserably to be funny, poignant, or tolerant of gays. It is a very insincere movie that pokes fun at every gay stereotype. There isn’t one masculine gay character throughout the film. Ving Rhames plays the supposedly closeted tough firemen. There is a shower scene in which Sandler and James’s relationship has been disclosed to the firehouse and the soap gets dropped. All of the straight guys refuse to get the soap because it is a known fact that all gays will mount you if you drop the soap in the shower. All of us straight guys know that to be a fact. Rhames enters the shower and the commotion stops as he picks up the soap and in a very feminine way starts to sing “I’m every Woman.” I guess I was supposed to laugh, but I was so offended and truly embarrassed to be straight.
Enter the beautiful Jessica Biel as James’s lawyer and the female love interest of Sandler. She is purposely put into this movie to remind us that we are not gay. That by watching a movie about homosexuality we will not catch the “Gay.” Biel’s brother in the film happens to be gay and she does a lot for the advancement of gay rights and that is the problem with Chuck and Larry. It isn’t about gay rights, it is about the right to make fun of gays and turn a profit of the backside of a big star in Sandler. It so happens that Biel’s brother is, you guessed it, a flamboyant gay character.
Chuck and Larry spends most of its time telling us how gay we are not. Sandler beds Hooters girls and an ugly Eastern European maid. Dan Akroyd has a bit part as the fire chief and gives a “lesson” on being tolerant about other lifestyles at the end of the film. The movie had a chance to address a real problem in a comical way, but instead becomes and insensitive piece of gay bashing worthy of the title hate crime.