I haven't seen the movie, but the dissonance between the cops and robbers storyline and the Meaning of Life ruminations interspersed here and there (especially toward the end, as Stevens points out) is exactly what turned me off of the book. I had hoped (apparently in vain) that the filmmakers would forgo the philosophical monologues and perhaps create one of those rare films that outstrips the quality of the book on which it's based. My point is, if the movie doesn't quite reach expectations, it may be because the Coen brothers were too loyal to the book to write its flaws out of the screenplay.

Then again, maybe Stevens is being too harsh. I look forward to deciding for myself.

I agree that the philosophizing in the book seems pasted onto the cop and robbers plot. I'm hoping the brothers made it a little more terse and less...watery...than it was in the novel.