And I feel guilty about using a little hair gel: "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"

We all know I'm a big Coen Brothers fan. Meaning I like them a lot, not that I'm a large person. I fully admit that some movies are merely OK -- recall an earlier post on "The Hudsucker Proxy" -- but, in general, you shouldn't be bored when Ethan and Joel are at the helm.

I first saw the boys' Depression-era version of "The Odyssey" in ye olde moviehouse, and it was ... all right. Definitely no "Fargo" or "Raising Arizona," and, quite frankly, I got a little sick of the bluegrass music revival it spurred. But when "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" came on an HD channel recently, I wondered if it might turn out to be like "The Big Lebowski." I wasn't overly impressed by the adventures of stoner Jeff Bridges and would-be Jew John Goodman the first time around. Yet subsequent viewings left me laughing more and more each time. Now I think "Lebowski" is pretty funny, even if not the best bowling movie I've seen. (Hello, "Kingpin.")

How did "Brother" do when it came to Viewing No. 2? It was ... all right.

Our story has three escaped convicts -- George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson -- on a quest for hidden riches in the 1930s Deep South. As you might guess, they run into a few obstacles and all sorts of strange folks. Between Homer and the Coens, what did you expect? Various oddball types are played by the aforementioned Goodman, Charles Durning, Michael Badalucco, Daniel "Mr. Kruger" von Bargen and Holly Hunter -- most of those familiar names in the Coen universe.

If I had to rank "Brother" on the Coen roster, I'd place it well behind their best work and above-average fare such as "Lebowski," "Blood Simple" and "Miller's Crossing" but better than "Hudsucker," "The Man Who Wasn't There" and probably "Intolerable Cruelty." Haven't seen "The Ladykillers" and "Barton Fink," but I understand I'm not missing much.

No question there's some really funny stuff. Clooney has the best lines, and many of them come early. ("I'm a Dapper Dan man!") Turturro also is amusing in his ignorance and cadence, and Nelson isn't bad as the dimmest of the three sort-of amigos.

Beyond that, though, none of the supporting players is anything great -- due mostly to their roles, not their abilities. I guess adapting various characters from "The Odyssey" didn't really work for me. Goodman gets a few good lines, but his cyclops just comes and goes. I suppose churning a bunch people through the movie is the point; look at all these people these three fugitives run into! It's just that the parts didn't add up to a great whole, you know?

Still, "Brother" is a nice movie to look at with some good music, and I did like a lot of the dialogue and oddities. I just wanted it to be more of a home run a la "Arizona" than a double. Especially with Clooney in the mix. I mean, any guy with enough guts to ask for a hairnet ...