big shots; November's best films are wicked, star-studded-and guaranteed to get Oscar's attention.('American Gangster' and 'No Country for Old Men')(Movie review)

Movie villains come in two kinds: those who want something, like money or world domination, and those who are wicked just for the hell of it. A terrifying version of the latter dominates No Country for Old Men, which haunted my dreams after I saw it at Cannes. Based on the best-seller by Cormac McCarthy, this heart-stopping thriller by the Coen brothers has a stark moral ferocity that feels almost biblical.

The story's set in motion by a hunter, Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), who, stumbling upon the aftermath of a West Texas shootout, discovers a bag full of drug money. Snatching his deadly windfall, he finds himself stalked by a murderous psycho named Anton Chigurh-played by Javier Bardem, in an unnervingly bad bowl-cut-who's as relentless as the Terminator. Chigurh is himself _being pursued by a cocksure bounty hunter, Carson Wells (Woody Harrelson), and a worn-out sheriff, Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), who believes that modern life has lost its bearings. Soon, everyone is chasing everyone else, and the only question is: Can anyone stop Chigurh before he kills Moss or his lovely wife, Carla Jean (Kelly Macdonald), the emblem of innocence in this tainted world?

Ever since they made Blood Simple, almost a quarter century ago, it's been clear that Joel and Ethan Coen are blessed with enormous filmmaking talent. But it's been equally clear that they're capable of frittering it away-think of a duff comedy like The Ladykillers. Here, perhaps swayed by McCarthy's artistic reputation, they approach their story with uncharacteristic seriousness. The results are extraordinary, from Roger Deakins's immaculate photography to the breakthrough performance by Brolin, who exudes the swaggering virility of the young Nick Nolte. Bursting with cinematic bravura, No Country for Old Men is, for starters, a triumph of suspense; indeed, the nerve-racking scene in which Moss hears Chigurh approaching his hotel room will doubtless be taught in film schools.

Of course, the Coens will never be remotely as somber as McCarthy, a writer who would sooner face a firing squad than make a joke; not surprisingly, No Country for Old Men is at its worst when lawman Bell ...