Brief Screening Report: No Country For Old Men

In the film No Country For Old Men one of the most striking scenes is Scene Four, entitled “Call it, Friend-O.” Anton Chigurh, played by Javier Bardem, walks into a little old gas station in the middle-of-nowhere-Texas. The elderly man working at the counter quickly becomes Anton’s play toy. Throughout the entire scene there is no background noise or sounds contributing to the drama, it is purely awkward and aggravated conversation between the gas station owner and Anton. The elderly man begins the conversation by asking how the weather is. Apparently that was a mistake because it led to Anton making their interaction a life and death situation. This scene is very important because the viewer gets a chance to really understand how Anton thinks. As the elderly man tries to make small talk, Anton makes the conversation a game filled with fear and aggravation. Anton’s mental instability becomes evident very quickly and causes the gas station owner to become obviously uncomfortable. Throughout the conversation Anton eats a small bag of candy. When he is finished he crunches the bag in his first forcefully and when he releases it on the counter there is a close up of it slowly unfolding from its very confined state. The most jolting part of the scene is when Anton pulls a quarter out of his pocket and flips it, covering the results with his hand. He tells the man to “Call it.” At this point the man seems very fearful and insists that he must know what is at stake before he chooses. Anton does not give in and the man chooses heads. Anton reveals the coin, which displays heads. He lets the man keep the coin, but tells him not to put it in his pocket because it’s “special.” For the viewer, this scene clearly infers that if the man had chosen tails Anton would have ended his life. It is an intense scene, which greatly displays Anton’s dangerous mental state that continues to be the source of mayhem throughout the film.