No Country For Old Men (2007)

This 2007 crime thriller by the Coen brothers won four academy awards, including Best Picture. It stars Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin and includes Woody Harrelson as well. It's a modern day western of sorts, set in Texas. But it is anything but the traditional type of western.

The film explores issues of free-will and fate as well as the essence of good and evil. Some of the characters are complex, behaving morally one moment and less so the next. Tommy Lee Jones plays small town sheriff Ed Tom Bell whose narration begins the film and whose conversation with his wife at the end about his dreams closes the film. The rest of the film concerns the interplay between the three stars as interested parties seek to recover $2 million in cash from a drug deal gone wrong.

If you only like the traditional kind of western where the good guys wear a white hat and always win, then you won't like this film. But if you enjoy a complex film that touches on the emotions and feelings of people trapped in circumstances that are sometimes of their own making and sometimes random and beyond their control, then you should enjoy this. The acting is top notch.

You can read about the film here: Wikipedia Article

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Out of Time (2003)

Out of Time (2003) is a fast paced crime thriller starring Denzel Washington as the police chief (Whitlock) of a small town on the Florida Keys. His affair with one of the characters evolves into a complicated plot involving stolen drug money, a million dollar life insurance policy, and a double homicide. The evidence points to Whitlock but all is not as it seems and the film keeps you on edge as Whitlock attempts to stay one step ahead of the lead homicide detective assigned to the case, his wife who has filed for divorce (played by Eva Mendez). You can read more about the film here: Out of Time

Gone Baby Gone (2007)

"Gone Baby Gone" is a 2007 film directed by Ben Affleck. Besides the stars shown in the picture (Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris), I recognized Titus Welliver who stars in the Bosch detective series. The film centers around a kidnapped 4-year-old girl in the Dorchester section of Boston. Private investigator Casey Affleck and his girlfriend partner Michelle Monaghan are hired by the missing child's aunt to augment the police investigation. The language is rough and this is a tough area of town. The mother of the missing girl is a drug addict and there is more to the kidnapping than first appears. Without giving away the plot, the ending of the film poses the question to the viewer as to whether the right choice was made. The cast is very strong and the film well acted.

The Sinner (2017)

"The Sinner" is a 2017 seven episode crime drama starring Jessica Biel as Cora Tannetti and Bill Pullman as Detective Harry Ambrose. It is currently available on Netflix. Cora is a 28 year old wife and mother of a 3 year old son. In the first episode we see her at the beach with her family. Suddenly, after seeing a young couple flirting and hearing a song, she rushes over to stab the young man seven times to his death. The case seems clear cut, with ample evidence and plenty of eye-witnesses. Cora accepts her actions and pleads guilty to second degree murder which carries a 30 year sentence. Much of the series takes place between the time she enters her plea and before she awaits sentencing as it gradually reveals the reasons for her action through flashbacks, and recovered memories from visiting locations or hypnotism. Detective Ambrose is persistent as he keeps digging, refusing to give up Cora or the case, sensing there is more to it than there seems. And, of course,...

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