The lack of empathetic characters in "No Counrtry for Old Men"

     The praise for the Coen brothers' "No Country for Old Men" has focused on the film's meticulous set-up of the scenes involving Josh Brolin's Llewelyn Moss and Javier Bardem's Anton Chigurh.  Chigurh's persistent hunt for Moss is given great attention to detail in scenes such as when Chigurh removes his boots so not to be heard and Moss construction of tools out of whatever is available (even though after multiple viewings this reminds me more of "MacGyver").  However, all this momentum comes to a halt when Moss is found shot to death in a motel room.  While the unexpected and anticlimactic death of a main character would seem to be the film's main problem, it is actually more so in the abrupt attempt to focus on the perspective of Tommy Lee Jones' Sheriff Ed Tom Bell.  Although the Sheriff has a few scenes earlier in the film, the bulk of the attention is on Moss and Chigurh.  In the end, the Coens try to make the audience see the destruction and reckless behavior of Moss and Chirgurh through the eyes of the Sheriff.  He is shocked by the actions of the two men, how people can treat each other so.  The problem with this tactic is we don't spend enough time with the Sheriff, since the story is mainly told from the point of view from the other two characters, and then all of a sudden we're supposed to sympathize with the Sheriff mostly by way of his forlorn stare and "aw-shucks, I can't believe this just happened" demeanor.   
     The basic structure of "No Country for Old Men" is similar and more a effective in David Fincher's "Seven," with Morgan Freeman's Detective Somerset in the place of Sheriff Bell, Brad Pitt's Detective Mills for Moss, and Kevin Spacey's John Doe for Chigurh.  Both films have a main theme of man's inhumanity to man, but the difference is Somerset is our guide throughout the entire film, he is the main character, and all of the atrocities are seen from his point of view.  From the beginning, he is presented as the experienced, somewhat jaded detective on the verge of retirement who mentors the young, naive, and at times reckless, ambition of Mills.  This relationship further helps us to identify Somerset as the one who will make the best and hardest decisions, leading Mills through the case.  When "No Country for Old Men" ends on another anticlimactic note with the Sheriff's recollection of an enigmatic dream about his father, "Seven" again manages to out do the Coen brothers with Somerset's last line, "Ernest Hemingway once wrote, 'The world is a fine place and worth fighting for.'  I agree with the second part."