Oh, I'm not saying it wasn't effective in absorbing the viewer and capturing your attention. It was extremely effective that way and would have been that much more so on the big screen, but I really focus when I'm watching movies...even on a small screen. I take my movies seriously. It didn't bore me at all...but it left me with a really bad feeling, that's all. I don't like being left with a really bad feeling by a movie nor do I like a movie that's, as you say, so unrelentingly negative.

I love most of the films the Coen brothers have done, but not that one. I can't even fathom what they did in the second half.

I think Ranger Steve's comment was right on: "I believe most critics, and not just film critics, like things because they believe they're supposed to."

Yeah! They all want to be "cool" together...sort of like the herd instinct. Then there are the few who get their kicks by opposing the prevailing viewpoint. Either way, are they really reviewing the film honestly or are they self-consciously acting out the role of "brilliant critic" and being their own appreciative audience, delighted with their own cleverness and intellectual grandiosity? It's a little hard to tell sometimes.