The Coen Brothers are decent directors, but it always seems like they get way more credit than they're due.  They're kind of like Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez in that respect (although I wouldn't even call Rodriguez decent).

Their most recent movie is No Country For Old Men, which apparently was based on a well written novel.  I say apparently, because the movie was boring as hell.  I haven't read the book, so I can't judge that.  The movie attempted decent social commentary, but from what I can gather from people I know who have read the novel, that is more due to Cormac McCarthy's writing than the Coen brothers' screenplay and direction.  Whatever the case, the movie simply does not deserve its current #16 rating in the top 250 movies of all time on imdb.

Now, I will give credit to the Coen brothers for some of their previous movies.  Raising Arizona was very good and funny.  Barton Fink was good.  Fargo deserved the high praises it received.  Even The Big Lebowski and O Brother Where Art Thou were enjoyable, despite being vastly overrated.  I've also heard that Blood Simple was good, but I've yet to see it.

Yet, the other half of their movie career has been rather mediocre.  The Hudsucker Proxy was great until the ending, which came completely out of left field and felt like they were in a hurry to end the movie.  Intolerable Cruelty and The Ladykillers were panned by most critics for their banality.  Now that No Country for Old Men is getting critics to foam at the mouth with praise, I'm left wondering....  What made this movie so great?

The story is rather simple and not anything of particular uniqueness.  The acting is good, but the dialogue and the actions of the characters are, at times, enigmatic and incoherent at best.  Now, I enjoy movies that make me think and sometimes require multiple viewings to understand (like The Big Lebowski), but this movie just didn't do anything for me.  The ending was very anticlimactic and really left you wondering what the point of the story was.  There weren't any real twists involved, and most of the plot points were extremely predictable.  By the end of it all, all I could think of was...  "I've seen this before when it was done much better."

In short, if anyone can clue me in on why No Country for Old Men was so great, please let me know.  Does anyone else here agree with me on this?

Didn't see that one.  I think the Coen brand of humor/art is so obscure and strange that it takes a while to get used to.

I did enjoy Fargo and Raising Arizona :)  I thought the Big Lebowski was so off the wall that it was enjoyable.

I'm a fan of their work,haven't watched No Country for Old Men yet though. The ones i've watched,i liked. My favorites are still Raising Arizona and Barton Fink,but the others are good too. I don't think their overrated at all,they have their unique style and that's always something to praise in the sea of boring movies that is Hollywood.

I like The Coen Brothers.  'Raising Arizona', 'The Hudsucker Proxy', 'O Brother' and 'The Man Who Wasn't There' were all awesome movies!

I love the Coen Brothers.  Fargo is one of my top 10 favorite movies of all time!

David Lynch, now that is overrated.

David Lynch, now that is overrated.


Sacrilege!!!

I like Lynch too,i find him a genius 8)

I like The Coen Brothers.  'Raising Arizona', 'The Hudsucker Proxy', 'O Brother' and 'The Man Who Wasn't There' were all awesome movies!


   I forgot about The Hudsucker Proxy.  Good one but haven't seen it in ages...

   Only other one I remember watching is Fargo.  Eh, was okay I s'pose.  I sure felt sorry for that guy's wife...