What's the Most You Ever Lost on a Coin Toss

Later this week Javier Bardem will become the latest Bond villain in Skyfall so Lionsgate has rounded up a three film collection of his most memorable roles out on DVD this week. (Granted I would have included Vicky Christina Barcelona.) The collection is highlighted by No Country for Old Men which garnered him an Oscar as an unorthodox hit man with an unorthodox haircut with a penchant for flipping coins. Bardem is hired to hunt down Josh Brolin (The Goonies) who came across two million dollars after a drug deal gone bad while Tommy Lee Jones (The Fugitive) is the local lawmen who tries to hunt them both down.

No Country for Old Men is a harrowing tale where directors Joel and Ethan Cohen faithfully reproduce the Cormac McCarthy novel. The three top line names all deliver unforgettable performances while Woody Harrelson (Zombieland) and Stephan Root (Newsradio) give great cameos. The DVD features the same extra as the original release of the movie including a Making Of feature, “Working with the Coens”, and “Diary of a Country Sherriff” featurettes.

I had never heard of Mondays in the Sun until I got this collection and when I put it in I knew why: the film is in Spanish. Like No Country for Old Men, Bardem had a memorial haircut, this time instead of the Dorothy Hamill bowel cut, he is significantly balding as he plays an out of work dockworker. After everyone was laid off when their ship building jobs were shipped to Korea, Bardem and his friends spend their days looking for new work and nights hanging out in a bar that one of them bought with his severance pay. Even though the film is a decade old, take place in another country, and is in a different language, the heartbreaking tale can resonate in today’s America where many people are still trying to cope with jobs that went to Asia a while ago. The DVD also features audio commentary from Bardem, and director Fernando Leon de Aranoa, deleted scenes, a Making Of featurette, and storyboard to scene comparison.

Biutiful saw Bardem team with famed director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Babel) and produced by Guillermo del Toro which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film (Bardem lost out on picking up another Best Actor Award but was the first ever nominated for an entirely Spanish-speaking performance). Yep, this one is in Spanish too. The film takes him back to Spain where he struggles to provide for his children while working on the wrong side of the law. This DVD is low on extras, just featuring the director’s flip notes, and an interview with the cast and crew.


Full Disclosure Notice: The DVD was given to me to review by Lionsgate.