Nancy, DH and I saw it just last weekend after it became available at Blockbuster. It is a thought piece rather than a horror piece. It is indeed very violent, realistically violent (usually Coen Bros. movies are), and its themes are very dark and pessimistic. However, IMHO it deserved every accolade it got.
One thing about the Coen movies in general and this one in particular: it never, ever succumbs to cheap convention in its method of telling a cinematic story. It does not music itself to death. It doesn't rely on a million close-ups of the characters' facial expressions. It does not throw everything at the viewer thinking the viewer is too much of a moron to figure things out. It also does not tie up every thread neatly (much like real life does not), and much of the narrative gets ambiguous - again, like real life.
Again, it has a great deal of very believable, unglamours, realistic violence in it. The title has incredible meaning, which becomes much clearer at the end (the ending was hotly debated in critics' and general audiences' circles; I happened to think it ended rightly). The three main charactors portrayed by Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin are symbolic as well realistic, especially Javier's character Anton Chigur.
It's totally worth the watch, but it's not a puppy upper. Be prepared to think about this one.
A-Jock
