Editor's note: For the record I'm a huge Coen Brothers fan so it pains me to run this piece. But we're all about many voices here at film.com and I grudgingly suspect there are many out there amongst you who don't love the Coen Brothers like I do. However, make sure you check back on Friday when Mr. Cargill and I will battle it out over No Country for Old Men. At stake? The future of the entire universe.

You know, the Coen Brothers are easily two of the most beloved filmmakers in the critical world. Yet, despite filling their films with big name actors ranging from Billy Bob Thornton to Tom Hanks to George Clooney, they've only once been able to really connect to a wide audience. Oddly enough, that was with their film they are most often accused of "selling out" with, O Brother, Where Art Thou. For most people, not caring for the Coen Brothers' films is like breathing. They're those guys that made that really good movie that one time. But for others, especially those in the critical profession, it is something akin to leprosy.

But I'm here to tell you that it's okay. You can come out of hiding. It is okay to dislike some of the Coen Brothers' movies. Now I'm not saying it's okay to hate them or calling them bad filmmakers. I'm just saying that contrary to what some of you might think, it is not stupid, ignorant or unsophisticated to dislike what they’re doing.

So what are they doing? Well, the Coens have made a career out of making films that I like to refer to as "meta-films." They are movies that don't require you to just think about the content, but how that content applies to the storytelling structure and more importantly, how it breaks the rules and conventions of storytelling. In other words they break the rules so people who think about such things can acknowledge that they broke the rules.

Bored yet? Now you see why their movies don't tend to make a nickel.

The best example of this, outside of their latest film No Country For Old Men that is, is The Big Lebowski in which they made an old Philip Marlow style film with a burnout stoner in the place of Detective Marlow. But instead of everything in the film tying together into one neat package like the Marlow films and novels, nothing at all is actually related, creating a film about a random series of events that happen to a guy that just seem to be connected at first. Get it? It's not actually about anything. Fortunately for the Coens the drug allusions and their brilliant dialogue have propelled that film into cult success.

And really, I don't harbor any ill will to the Coens. I actually love a few of their films: Blood Simple, Miller's Crossing, and of course, O Brother. Great films one and all. But try telling one of their fans that you don't like some of their other films and prepare for the earful. It's odd, but I know a lot of fellow critics -- critics who will shout in the loudest voice they can their opinions on what they had for breakfast, not to mention anything having to do with film -- who will lean in and whisper, honest to god whisper, phrases like "You know, I really don't care for The Big Lebowski either," or "Fargo was really overrated." But they won't say it in public. Never in public.

They don't want the earful. Me? At this point I'm going deaf in that ear. So let me be the first to say it. We have their fans outnumbered. It's okay if you don't like their films. There's no shame in it!

C. Robert Cargill - - - Email Me
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Austin-based Cargill, who not only loves but owns The Cutting Edge, writes on movies and DVD five times a week.

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