Script to Screen: “No Country For Old Men”

The coin toss scene from No Country For Old Men (2007), screenplay by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, one of the most riveting moments in the movie.

Setup: A vicious killer Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) escapes from the law and stops for gas.

EXT. GAS STATION/GROCERY - SHEFFIELD - DAY

At an isolated dusty crossroad. It is twilight. The Ford
sedan that Chigurh stopped is parked alongside the pump.INT. GAS STATION/GROCERY - DAYChigurh stands at the counter across from the elderly
proprietor. He holds up a bag of cashews. CHIGURH
How much? PROPRIETOR
Sixty-nine cent. CHIGURH
This. And the gas. PROPRIETOR
Y'all getting any rain up your way? CHIGURH
What way would that be? PROPRIETOR
I seen you was from Dallas.Chigurh tears open the bag of cashews and pours a few into
his hand. CHIGURH
What business is it of yours where
I'm from, friendo? PROPRIETOR
I didn't mean nothin' by it. CHIGURH
Didn't mean nothin'. PROPRIETOR
I was just passin' the time. CHIGURH
I guess that passes for manners in
your cracker view of things.A beat. PROPRIETOR
Well sir, I apologize. If you don't
wanna accept that I don't know what
else I can do for you.

Chigurh stands chewing cashews, staring while the old man
works the register and puts change on the counter. PROPRIETOR
...Will there be somethin' else? CHIGURH
I don't know. Will there?Beat. The proprietor turns and coughs. Chigurh stares. PROPRIETOR
Is somethin' wrong? CHIGURH
With what? PROPRIETOR
With anything? CHIGURH
Is that what you're asking me? Is
there something wrong with anything?The proprietor looks at him, uncomfortable, looks away. PROPRIETOR
Will there be anything else? CHIGURH
You already asked me that. PROPRIETOR
Well... I need to see about closin'. CHIGURH
See about closing. PROPRIETOR
Yessir. CHIGURH
What time do you close? PROPRIETOR
Now. We close now. CHIGURH
Now is not a time. What time do you
close. PROPRIETOR
Generally around dark. At dark.Chigurh stares, slowly chewing. CHIGURH
You don't know what you're talking
about, do you? PROPRIETOR
Sir? CHIGURH
I said you don't know what you're
talking about.Chigurh chews. CHIGURH
...What time do you go to bed. PROPRIETOR
Sir? CHIGURH
You're a bit deaf, aren't you? I
said what time do you go to bed. PROPRIETOR
Well...A pause. PROPRIETOR
...I'd say around nine-thirty.
Somewhere around nine-thirty. CHIGURH
I could come back then. PROPRIETOR
Why would you be comin' back? We'll
be closed. CHIGURH
You said that.He continues to stare, chewing. PROPRIETOR
Well... I need to close now -- CHIGURH
You live in that house behind the
store? PROPRIETOR
Yes I do. CHIGURH
You've lived here all your life?A beat. PROPRIETOR
This was my wife's father's place.
Originally. CHIGURH
You married into it. PROPRIETOR
We lived in Temple Texas for many
years. Raised a family there. In
Temple. We come out here about four
years ago. CHIGURH
You married into it. PROPRIETOR
...If that's the way you wanna put
it. CHIGURH
I don't have some way to put it.
That's the way it is.He finishes the cashews and wads the packet and sets it on
the counter where it begins to slowly unkink. The proprietor's
eyes have tracked the packet. Chigurh's eyes stay on the
proprietor. CHIGURH
...What's the most you've ever lost
on a coin toss? PROPRIETOR
Sir? CHIGURH
The most. You ever lost. On a coin
toss. PROPRIETOR
I don't know. I couldn't say.Chigurh is digging in his pocket. A quarter: he tosses it. He slaps it onto his forearm but keeps it covered. CHIGURH
Call it. PROPRIETOR
Call it? CHIGURH
Yes. PROPRIETOR
For what? CHIGURH
Just call it. PROPRIETOR
Well -- we need to know what it is
we're callin' for here. CHIGURH
You need to call it. I can't call it
for you. It wouldn't be fair. It
wouldn't even be right. PROPRIETOR
I didn't put nothin' up. CHIGURH
Yes you did. You been putting it up
your whole life. You just didn't
know it. You know what date is on
this coin? PROPRIETOR
No. CHIGURH
Nineteen fifty-eight. It's been
traveling twenty-two years to get
here. And now it's here. And it's
either heads or tails, and you have
to say. Call it.A long beat. PROPRIETOR
Look... I got to know what I stand
to win. CHIGURH
Everything. PROPRIETOR
How's that? CHIGURH
You stand to win everything. Call
it. PROPRIETOR
All right. Heads then.

Chigurh takes his hand away from the coin and turns his arm
to look at it. CHIGURH
Well done.
He hands it across. CHIGURH
...Don't put it in your pocket. PROPRIETOR
Sir? CHIGURH
Don't put it in your pocket. It's
your lucky quarter. PROPRIETOR
...Where you want me to put it? CHIGURH
Anywhere not in your pocket. Or it'll
get mixed in with the others and
become just a coin. Which it is.

He turns and goes. The proprietor watches him.

Here is the scene in the movie:

At :41 they cut out this:

CHIGURH: I guess that passes for manners in your cracker view of things.

A beat.

PROPRIETOR: Well sir, I apologize.

By not including the apology from the Proprietor, it makes him a bit more defiant. He’s not yet understanding the gravity of the situation.

Why is the fact that he “married into it” important? My opinion is that Chigurh is looking for a reason for the coin toss. Oddly enough, he can’t justify it until after he finds out about the marriage. He’s working himself up to the “act” and that is symbolized by eating the cashews. He finishes the bag and it is empty right before it is “time.”

The interesting thing that is not in the script is how Chigurh is acting when he says “Call it.” He sighs. It’s like an outside force is making him do this. It’s almost like he doesn’t want to but it’s a compulsive behavior. That is underlined when he says “I can’t call it for you.” Some “rule” that he has to follow even though he is forcing this game onto an unwilling person.

Also notice the slight zoom in at 3:18. The cinematography relieves the tension just a tad right there to emphasize the line “You been putting it up your whole life. You just didn’t know it.” It makes us go “A-ha, is that what it’s about?”

And then he mentions the date of the coin like it’s some profound statement about how long it has traveled to get there. In Chigurh’s mind, he is still looking for reasons to justify his behavior. He seems to be searching for meaning. Same thing with the coin getting “…mixed in with the others and become just a coin.” Is that his way of saying that he is not like other people? This is his power, what makes him unique?

And then finishing off with “Which it is.” Life is unpredictable. Violence can happen anywhere when you least expect it. The coin is Chigurh mixing with the other “coins.”

It’s a long scene but I don’t think any line here is a throwaway. Every single one has subtext and goes to showing Chigurh’s character. It’s done in a way that makes us question his intention and motivation. It’s unsettling. The writers are fucking with us as well.

The Coens show that they have complete control over not just the mise-en-scene but control over us as an audience. They got us right where they wanted. It’s brilliant filmmaking.

I especially resonate with the sigh, as if “he doesn’t want to but it’s a compulsive behavior.” I think that’s a fair comment.

Speaking of fair, interesting to have a coin flip such a prevalent bit of business in both No Country for Old Men and The Dark Knight, and both of the key characters talk about fairness:

Any other coin flip moments of note in movies?

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