4 Movies Based on Cormac McCarthy Books and Where to Stream Them
Acclaimed writer Cormac McCarthy is dead at age 89. He died at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, of natural causes, his publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, confirmed to multiple outlets.
McCarthy, who won both a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award, was the author of a long list of celebrated novels that often explored dark and violent themes. He published his first book, The Orchard Keeper, in 1965 and achieved widespread critical acclaim in 1985 with the bleak revisionist Western Blood Merdian in 1985. His other novels include All the Pretty Horses and The Road.
In addition to being a celebrated figure in American literature, McCarthy also made his mark on film. Several Cormac McCarthy novels were adapted into movies, including No Country for Old Men, which won an Academy Award for Best Picture in 2008.
‘All the Pretty Horses’
The first big-screen adaptation of McCarthy’s work was All the Pretty Horses (2000). The movie, directed by Billy Bob Thornton, stars Matt Damon as cowboy John Grady Cole. John Grady leaves his family’s ranch in Texas and travels to Mexico to search for work, where he falls in love with a woman named Alejandra (Penélope Cruz).
All the Pretty Horses received poor reviews from critics upon its release. Damon later blamed interference from Miramax and studio head Harvey Weinstein for the film’s failure, including marketing it as a love story and changing its original score.
“We made this very dark, spare movie, but the studio wanted an epic with big emotions and violins … Billy had a heart problem at that time, and it was because his heart f*cking broke from fighting for that film. It really f*cked him up. It still bothers me to this day,” Damon said in a 2012 interview with Playboy (via Indiewire).
All the Pretty Horses is available to rent or buy on Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, and other platforms.
‘No Country for Old Men’
The second movie based on one of McCarthy’s books was far more successful than the first. No Country for Old Men began life as a screenplay. McCarthy later rewrote the story as a novel. The book was published in 2005 and then adapted for the screen by Joel and Ethan Coen in 2007.
The movie, which is set in Texas, follows the interconnected stories of three men. Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) steals a suitcase full of money after stumbling upon the aftermath of a drug deal. A sheriff named Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) investigates the aftermath of the drug deal. And Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) is a hitman hired to recover the money Moss stole.
In addition to best picture, No Country for Old Men won awards for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor (for Bardem). It is available to rent or buy Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, and other platforms.
‘The Road’
McCarthy’s 2006 post-apocalyptic novel The Road was turned into a 2009 movie directed by John Hillcoat. (Hillcoat is also set to direct an upcoming adaptation of Blood Meridian, Deadline reports.) Set in the aftermath of an unspecified catastrophe that has killed off almost all plant and animal life, the movie follows a father (Viggo Mortensen) and his son (Kodi Smit- McPhee) on a treacherous journey to the coast, where they hope to find refuge.
In an interview with Oprah in 2007, McCarthy shared that the idea for the novel came to him during a trip to El Paso with his young son, John. As his son slept, he stood by the window and imagined what the city might look like in 50 or 100 years.
“I just had this image of these fires up on the hill … and I thought a lot about my little boy,” he said (via AP).
The Road is streaming on Tubi, Pluto TV, and Amazon Freevee.
‘Child of God’
James Franco directed 2013’s Child of God, an adaptation of McCarthy’s 1973 novel of the same name. Set in Appalachia in the 1950s, the movie follows Lester Ballard (Scott Haze), an outcast who descends into a gruesome life of violence. It received mostly negative reviews from critics.
“When one is working with material like a Cormac McCarthy book, the goal is easy: try to live up to the material,” Franco told EW via email ahead of the movie’s release.
Child of God is available to stream on Tubi, Kanopy, and Crackle.
Other Cormac McCarthy movies
Two other movies are based on works by McCarthy. He wrote the screenplay for the 2013 movie The Counselor. This film follows a lawyer caught up in a drug deal gone wrong. Ridley Scott directed the movie, which stars Michael Fassbender, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, and Brad Pitt. It received mostly negative reviews and performed poorly at the box office. The Counselor is available to rent or buy on Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, and other platforms.
In 2011, Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson starred in The Sunset Limited. The TV movie was based on McCarthy’s 2006 play of the same name. It’s about two men – one white, one Black – who have a philosophical debate about faith and life after one interrupts the other’s suicide attempt. It is available to stream on Max.
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