No Country for Old Men - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[morris]

This was the second Best Picture Academy Award winner to be produced, directed, written and edited by the same person (two people, in this case: Ethan Coen and Joel Coen). The first was James Cameron for Titanic (1997).

[chris]

The first actor cast for this film was Tommy Lee Jones.

[frederick]

Javier Bardem's victory at the 80th Academy Awards made him the first Spanish actor to win an Oscar. Bardem also was the first Spanish actor to be nominated for an Oscar with Before Night Falls (2000).

[duane]

Carson Wells (Woody Harrelson) mentions to Man, who hires Wells (Stephen Root), that one floor in a building seems to be missing. This may refer to the fact that most buildings do not have a thirteenth floor, which many consider an unlucky number. Building owners often rename the floor "14," or give the floor some other use, and rename it with a letter. The novel implies that the floor in question, the seventeenth, is not listed in the building's directory for security purposes, and is thus "missing." It is possible they use this "missing" floor to process the Mexican Brown Dope.

[ray]

The case that held the money in this film was the same case that was also used for the same purpose in Fargo (1996).

[sara]

Contrary to most successful films made from books, much of the film's action is taken word for word from Cormac McCarthy's novel, and occurs in the same order. For instance, Bell's final speech in the film is on the final page of the book. However, unusually for Joel Coen and Ethan Coen (usually known for their extremely loquacious characters), they decreased the amount of dialogue found in the book, substantially in some scenes.

[ken]

Anton Chigurh says that the coin he flips in the gas station was dated 1958 and "it's been traveling 22 years to get here". If you do the math, that makes the movie set in 1980. As they are burying her, Carla Jean's Mother's headstone reads "1922 - 1980", basically the same math used with the coin, indicates that she was 58 years old.

[sophie]

When directors Joel Coen and Ethan Coen approached Javier Bardem about playing Chigurh, he said, "I don't drive, I speak bad English and I hate violence." The Coens responded, "That's why we called you." Bardem said he took the role because his dream was to be in a Coen Brothers film.

[richard]

This was the first Oscar-winning film to be edited using Final Cut Pro.

[darrell]

Anton's body count: 14 1. Sheriff's Deputy: strangulation; 2. Motorist on road: cattle bolt to the head; 3.-4. Two men in suits in desert: gunshots; 5.-7. Three Mexicans in motel: gunshots; 8. Eagle Hotel clerk: presumed gunshot; 9. Carson Wells: gunshot; 10. Driver who Moss flagged down: gunshots; 11.-12: Two men in office building: gunshots; 13. Chicken truck driver: presumed gunshot; and 14. Carla Jean Moss: presumed gunshot.

[ella]

Tommy Lee Jones and Barry Corbin both also appeared in Lonesome Dove (1989).

[frederick]

The film was shot mostly in the city of Las Vegas, New Mexico (not Las Vegas, Nevada). Tommy Lee Jones convinced directors Joel Coen and Ethan Coen to film some scenes on-location in West Texas.

[albert]

Woody Harrelson and Caleb Landry Jones also both appeared in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017). That film also featured Frances McDormand, the wife of Joel Coen, sister-in-law of Ethan Coen, and female leading role in Fargo, another famous Coen movie.