Merits of Coens

WITH regard to Glenn Kenny’s article on the ending of “No Country for Old Men” [“Coen Country Is Tricky Terrain,” Jan. 11]: What a bunch of malarkey! From an old died-in-the-wool writer who was brought up on the beginning/middle/end, three-act structure school, Scott Rudin and the Coen brothers failed miserably to offer up reasonable fare.

There are 10,000 members of the Writers Guild, any of whom I’m sure could have written a smarter denouement between the clash of the titans (Javier Bardem and Tommy Lee Jones) than what was offered here.

Alan A. Ross

Malibu

HOW very interesting to juxtapose the thematic congruencies and differences between the Coen brothers’ “Fargo” and “No Country for Old Men.” In “Fargo,” Marge Gunderson’s innocent morality triumphs over the forces of evil and avarice. In “No Country for Old Men,” Ed Tom Bell’s informed morality is flummoxed by the depth of evil he encounters and, in an act of self-preservation, he retreats from further involvement and is haunted by it.

To me, that is the essence of the ending.

Gail McClain

Laguna Beach