'No Country' is the one McCarthy novel that did not leap from the page. The Cohen's treatment of it, however, is an entirely different matter and surely would please the author. The dark and violent theme is perfectly realised without distracting moralizing. The balance between Bardem's implaccable evil, Jone's diminished and despairing Lawman, and the resourceful Brolin is held in unrelenting tension through 'til the credit roll. Jones has come into his own as a wise elder over the last few years and to date, this is his finest role...the lip pouts, shrugs, eyes worn into wincing wrinkles, all undersated to dignify the film. He is granted the opening and closing words of the narrative but has no control over the unfolding mayhem. Barden's automatonic stance might have dwindled to caricature but for the calm intelligence he brings to his repartee. Where does this fit in the Cohen's canon? With 'Blood Simple', 'The Big Lebowski' and,'Fargo'. They are back on the money, finding in the South-West, like McCarthy, a stage large enough to enact the dubious bloodfest that seems endemic to the culture.