The Coen brothers also explore the future and modernity. While on the run, Moss first stops at a rundown motel, a very old school idea of hiding out. Ironically, the motel's billboard advertises that it carries HBO, which would have been brand new in the movie's timeline. Before his face-off with Chigurh, Moss remarks that he is "just looking for what's coming." Is he ready for it? In addition, Chigurh seems nearly invincible when he kills many men at a time, but ultimately it is not a man that brings him to his lowest point. It is a symbol of technology.

One of the best meshing of the different themes occurs when both Moss and Chigurh are at their lowest points. After being wounded, they each ask for a shirt off a younger man's back. Perhaps as a comment on how generations relate to each other, they both end up buying their shirts for large sums.

While the Coens are known for their quirkiness, this is hardly a flashy movie. The pacing is very deliberate. The movie's visual and overall tone is very consistent. There are shots from perspectives we rarely see, but because of the slow pace they hardly seem flashy. As the movie slowly builds, so does the tension and the audience's sense of dread.

The performances are very low-key and for the most part understated. Javier Bardem won the Oscar for his portrayal of Chigurh. He does not play his character as an escapee from the insane asylum or as a cartoon, but rather as someone who is simply sure of what he wants to do. Because what he wants to do is so foul, his calmness makes him much scarier. Josh Brolin plays the stereotypical "I'm too old for this" everyman. While it is nothing new, he comes off believably. Tommy Lee Jones is the only one with much flashiness to his performance. His sheriff has a quick tongue and a Texas-style story for everything. The verbal gymnastics are an act not just for Tommy Lee Jones, but for the sheriff as well. In his final scene, he discusses a dream he had about his father. In this scene, we see the real Ed Tom Bell, a man scared of death and the future, but who has no idea what to do about it.

This movie is quite a feat of directing. It is a rare movie that can address such serious themes effectively while the plot deals with drug money and a hit man.