What a great, great film. Possibly one of those films that is best seen on video by yourself or with one or two people, so your reactions won't be influenced (there are some stuff that only you will find funny, and some stuff that only you will find sad).

Billy Bob Thornton is SUPERB; it is the kind of performance that people assume is easy...it's not. It just blows me away. All the supporting roles are well-crafted too, especially Tony Shalhoub as the hotshot lawyer (although Frances McDormand's role as the wife is rather truncated).

The film just looks beautiful. It's amazing just to stare at and take in. So many great visuals, accompanied by superb music and pithy dialogue.

I'm not sure about the UFO business; it just seems like it's in there so that the Coen brothers can have their little winks ("See? We're still craaaaaazy!"), and it does fit the setting, but it may obfuscate (or uncertain?) the situation more than it deserves to be.

Also, Birdy's character is very vaguely defined, and little to no explanation is given for her actions in the ending. Admittedly the ending flags but it does pick up for some killer visuals and dialogue right at the very end.

The film is pretty short (less than 2 hours), but I know Leonard Maltin said it was overlong and many people have commented it seems longer than it really is. This is one of the film's beauties, I guess, showing how time moves slowly (and there are more mundane scenes shown in this film than any other).