No Country for Old Men (2007)
This is probably the “best” movie the Coens have ever made, if you can really quantify best. No Country For Old Men took home four Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Javier Bardem), and is often considered one of the best films of the decade, as well as of the Coen’s career. It’s part western, part noir, part thriller, and completely lives up to the hype. Llewelyn (Josh Brolin) discovers a $2 million left behind at drug deal gone awry in his small Texas town, and takes off the with money, only to be hunted down by hired killer Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), while the local Sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones) can’t keep up with all the violence.
It’s Bardem’s performance as Chigurh that received most of the praise, and is the lasting image of the family, and it’s for good reason. While each character is well defined, Chigurh is so singularly unique: he has a distinct speaking pattern, a strange haircut and a unique method of killing. Despite all that, he’s played completely straight and is downright terrifying.