I have mixed feelings about this film. On one hand, this has got to be one of the best cat-and-mouse chase movies ever made. It's super tight, lean, and tension-laden. However, there's a big caveat that sticks in my craw much like it does with other people by the end of this film.

As you've probably heard people saying, the ending is somewhat unsatisfying while the bulk of the picture is absolutely stunning. I'll try my best not to give away the ending. It's not a twist, nor a convenient wrap-up that we are all too accustomed to in modern cinema. Instead, the ending opens us up to the helplessness of Tommy Lee Jones' character, Sheriff Ed Tom Bell. And he's what's stuck in my craw.

Tommy Lee is on the case after finding a series of murders and a drug-deal massacre in his quiet, West-Texas town. He's trying to put the pieces together while average country-man Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) is trying to get out of town with his innocently found $2 million in drug money. Why is he running? Well, you'd be too if Anton Chigurh (played brilliantly by Javier Bardem) was chasing you. He's wrapped up in this Mexican drug-deal gone bad, and he has to get the money back for the bad guys. Now, when I say Anton Chigurh (sounds kinda like "Sugar") is probably the coldest and most psychotic killer since Jack Torrance in The Shining, I mean, Anton kills people like he's just flipping off a light switch. No questions. Just dead (I guarantee this Halloween will see lots of Anton Chigurh costumes). And he's got two unique weapons of choice: a tank of compressed air that shoots out a piston with the force of a bullet, and a shotgun with a silencer -- I've never seen either of those before (cool!).

Like I said before, Llewelyn is doing a great job of staying just one step ahead of Anton. He outwits him with good old fashion country smarts while Anton kills everyone standing in his way. Oh yeah, cut to Tommy Lee now and then half-assed following this case back in the town where this all started. His story is the theme of the film, but it just feels -- well, weird. Tommy Lee is perfect for the role as country Sheriff, but why even have this character if he's only going to do a half-assed job of catching the bad guy? We're supposed to sympathize with Tommy Lee's character because he's an "old man" ill-equipped to handle this new, modern breed of savage killers. But how are we to sympathize with his lazy approach to law-enforcement when Llewelyn is out there on the front lines doing the real work of dodging bullets?

Now, I completely understand the theme of the film, so don't tell me I "just don't get it." I do: Tommy Lee is an old-timer doing law enforcement the old time way -- just like his pappy and his pappy did out here in the wild west. But when faced with these new mindless killers, these old-timers just can't hack it. It's too brutal and unfathomable for them to compute. I get that. I understand and respect that about the film. And I also respect the fact that we don't have the mandatory confrontation between Anton and Tommy Lee. I really liked that they've turned the film on its conventional head. But was the theme of this movie ever made potent? It was capped at the front and back ends, but so what? The Coen Brothers have an otherwise perfect film with or without that theme. So my question is, is it needed? Most will say yes. I'm definitely in the minority.

All that being said, the script is otherwise sparse in dialogue making the film hauntingly quiet and terrorizing. There's not even any soundtrack in any scene. Each scene is created by the visual and quiet nature of the dialogue. The landscape and folksy characters dotting these towns are perfectly cast. Tommy Lee is the perfect Sheriff. Josh Brolin is the perfect country every-man, and Anton (Javier) is the perfectly strange and cold killer. If anything, this film is an instant classic, but only if you can scrape away some of the unnecessary fat around the edges. Definitely worth seeing.