‘A Serious Man’ Review

Release Date: 10/2/09

A Serious Man, written and directed by the Coen Brothers, is an original dark comedy by the Oscar winning filmmakers.  This is being called their most personal work to date brining their Jewish beliefs to the screen.  The Coen Brothers are unconventional filmmakers and any normal movie fan might find their way of storytelling frustrating, wanting to get more out of what they are trying to say.  There is a lot being said in this film about religion and how God works in mysterious ways, but in the end it just doesn’t do anything for me.  Being a fan of No Country for Old Men, Burn After Reading, and The Big Lebowski, or even Barton Fink, Fargo, and Blood Simple, I feel like this film is one of their worst and find the humor just doesn’t work.

Set in 1967, Larry Gopnik (Played by Michael Stuhlbarg), a physics professor at a quiet Midwestern University, searches for clarity. His wife Judith (Played by Sari Lennick) has fallen in love with one of his smooth talking colleagues, Sy Ableman (Played by Fred Melamed) Larry’s unemployable brother Arthur (Played by Richard Kind) is sleeping on the couch, his son Danny has a discipline problem at Hebrew school, and his daughter Sarah is filching money from his wallet in order to save up for a nose job. While his wife and Sy Ableman casually make new domestic arrangements, and his brother becomes more and more of a burden, an anonymous hostile letter-writer is trying to sabotage Larry’s chances for tenure at the university. Also, a graduate student seems to be trying to bribe him for a passing grade while at the same time threatening to sue him for slander. Plus, the beautiful woman next door torments him by sunbathing nude. Struggling for stability, Larry seeks advice from three different Rabbis. Can anyone help him cope with his suffering and become a respectable person?

As we sat in the first row of a packed theater and watched the Coens announce out the cast I realized wow there are no big names in this film at all.  This make’s it a little easier to get into but it also makes for a different approach from the Coens.  I thought the performances were all decent, especially the lead actor Michael Stuhlbarg, but some of the acting and comedic elements could have been better delivered by some top quality actors. Stuhlbarg Makes you feel for him as he searches for something, an answer to a question about his life.  He carries the movie and really did a fine job for an actor not very well known.  Richard Kind has one scene that stands out as he breaks down and cries but other then that his performance is just so-so.

The story had potential but the Coens just screw it up.  I realize they are trying to be original and making the film their own, but I wish they would go back to the conventional style of filmmaking like when they made Fargo and The Big Lebowski.  Those movies mix humor and the Coens oddness to perfection and make for entertaining films.  A Serious Man is so frustrating that it almost becomes overwhelming in the end.  If there was one more dream sequences or pointless visit to a Rabbi I was going to scream.

I’ll give the Coen brothers this they know how to technically make a sharp movie.  The crisp editing and top-notch cinematography by Roger Deakins make it another Coen Brothers film that is gorgeous to look at.  The music selection is also high quality, I just wish this mixed with a story that I could have gotten into.

This film will be either loved or hated, most moviegoers will watch it with much irritation and find it to have a couple funny scenes.   This will be a film that will gain much critical acclaim for being original and being a Coen Brothers movie, but not for being a good narrative with fine storytelling.

Imdb: 9.3/10

Rotten Tomatoes: N/A

Moviewiseguys: 6.5/10