The career-defining performance of Tommy Lee Jones in ‘No Country for Old Men’
Every actor worth their salt has their definitive role. For Clint Eastwood it is the ‘Man with No Name’, Orson Welles Charles Foster Kane, and for Robert De Niro, it is Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver. Although he has undertaken many memorable roles over the years, for Tommy Lee Jones, it is his performance as Ed Tom Bell in 2007’s No Country for Old Men that ranks at the very top of the list.
Joel and Ethan Coen’s take on Cormac McCarthey’s novel of the same name is arguably their masterpiece, and it is brimming with career-defining performances from all of the main cast members, including Javier Bardem as the angel of death, Anton Chigurh, Josh Brolin as Llewelyn Moss and Kelly Macdonald as Carla Jean Moss.
Highly rated at the time of release and receiving scores of awards, some 15 years later, the film and Tommy Lee Jones’ performance get unjustly overlooked. A stellar postmodern investigation into the themes of fate, conscience, and circumstance, it is one of the most pertinent that the brothers have ever released, perfecting the style they initiated in earlier titles such as Raising Arizona and Fargo.
The Coens expertly picked apart McCarthy’s novel and resoundingly did it justice, which is rare for adaptations of such opaque and revered novels. It remains as profound as ever, considering that we are amid a shifting epoch, with the bleak implications of McCarthy’s work driven home by a mix of the directing, script, acting and Roger Deakins’ cinematography.
Whilst the film has many impressive aspects, one of the most criminally underrated is Tommy Lee Jones as Ed Tom Bell. This was the moment his pronounced Texan accent and expressive eyebrows really came to the fore, augmenting the stereotype he had crystallised in the legendary roles as U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard in The Fugitive and Agent K in the Men in Black films.
Authentically portraying the world-weary Sheriff, Lee Jones’ performance was flawless as the central character in the film. As an indication of just how powerful it was, it is impossible to imagine the role performed by someone else. A dramatic masterclass, it is the most apparent reflection of the dramatic aptitude he possesses and the many years he put in as a stage actor before he made the jump to the screen, as it’s a performance the thespians of old would be proud of.
Subtle but emotionally affecting, Jones’ portrayal of a man from a bygone era coming to terms with how the world is rapidly changing around him, and his mortality, is incredibly moving and something all of us can comprehend even if we’re not Vietnam War veterans.
Ed Tom Bell is a wonderfully complex creation, and Tommy Lee Jones’ performance is one of those rare displays where, after watching, you forever associate the character with the actor.
He brings the world-weariness of a man whose seen and done it all into focus, conveying the sentiment that as our march towards the inevitable comes closer to the end, we become even more stoic in our opposition to how the world is changing, yearning for the old times, despite their flaws.
It’s career-defining stuff and cements Tommy Lee Jones’ place as one of the all-time greats.
