Wednesday, December 19, 2007 , Updated
No Country For Old Men takes Dallas and Toronto critics by (sand)storm
" All for you, Coen Brothers, all for you..."
In a move that will shock no one, both the D/FW Film Critics and the Toronto Film Critics have joined the crowd by heaping acclaim on No Country for Old Men, the Coen Brothers' true-to-source cinematic translation of the Cormac McCarthy border-themed existentialist thriller.
There's a storm comin'. It's four letters and starts with "s," but it ain't "sand."
No Country also brought the Coen boys top honors for directing (from both groups) and the Toronto critics cited them for best screenplay. (The D/FW critics deemed Diablo Cody's Juno screenplay superior to the No Country script, which finished second in their poll.)
Both groups decided that Javier Bardem deserved top honors in the Best Supporting Actor category for his performance as ruthless hit man Anton Chigurh. In something of a twist, both groups diverged from what was becoming a landslide by NOT choosing Amy Ryan as Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Gone Baby Gone: previous polls had been unanimous in their acclaim for her deadbeat drugged-up mom portrayal. (Dallas picked Michael Clayton's Tilda Swinton, while the Torontoans selected Cate Blanchett's incarnation of Bob Dylan in I'm Not There.) Both polls chose Ratatouille as Best Animated feature.
The North Texas Film Critics Association results (which will include this author's input) are not due until after the new year. Because - hey! - we of the NTFCA are still watching movies in 2007, unlike those D/FW slackers.
