SummaryA Serious Man is the story of an ordinary man’s search for clarity in a universe where Jefferson Airplane is on the radio and F-Troop is on TV. It is 1967, and Larry Gopnik, a physics professor at a quiet Midwestern university, has just been informed by his wife Judith that she is leaving him. She has fallen in love with one of his more ...
SummaryA Serious Man is the story of an ordinary man’s search for clarity in a universe where Jefferson Airplane is on the radio and F-Troop is on TV. It is 1967, and Larry Gopnik, a physics professor at a quiet Midwestern university, has just been informed by his wife Judith that she is leaving him. She has fallen in love with one of his more ...
The Coens nod at some familiar stylistic tropes – florid swearing, sexual euphemism, crusty, aged characters – but the film’s potency is rooted in quiet precision and detailed realisation.
Like the Coens’ protagonist in "The Man Who Wasn’t There," Stuhlbarg is driven to an existential crisis, but in contrast to the earlier movie, with its tired noir moves, this one is earnestly engaged in the question of what constitutes a life well lived.
This darkly funny movie about finding meaning in life is one of the Coen brothers' most underrated (a possibly least accesible) films.
This movie is a quest for answers, but if you know the Coen brothers, you know the chances of actually finding any answers are close to zero.
Michael Stuhlbarg gives a great performance.
The ending (and it's incredible closing shot) might leave many frustrated, unfulfilled and confused, but as the movie says:
"Just accept the mystery".
It’s a story that begins in an ancient riddle and ends, perfectly, in the rumble of an oncoming storm. It’s about life, A Serious Man is, and it’s as close, I think, as any American narrative movie of recent vintage has come to touching on the uncanniness of it.
This seriously funny movie, artfully photographed by the great Roger Deakins, is spiritual in nature, barbed in tone, and, oh, yeah, it stings like hell.
As usual, though, the Coens have more venal satisfactions in mind. "The fun of the story for us," they crow in the notes for this loathsome movie, "was inventing new ways to torture Larry."
A Serious Man is tremendous in creating a world that all of us live in. A world where we are tossed about in search of answers and getting very few. Basically its perfection in movie making: it's original, its funny, its poignant, and the cinematography is flawless and beautiful.
no matter how it may be fabricated..
A Serious Man
A Serious Man is a character driven comic drama about a physics teacher whose "safe" life somehow changes the lane to the opposite side of a one way street. Contrary to usual Coen brothers' feature, it is funny and not because of its ingenuity in writing skills or the tiny humoristic notions imputed, but its Stuhlbarg's inexpressive, baffled and uncertain expressions that draws out most of the laughs. The sound effects are aptly bred if doesn't do much on background score with a decent cinematography and editing that keeps it to the definite point. The narrative is gripping, adaptive and layered with a slow pill nature where despite of its sadism, it crawls up to you and makes you feel for its characters. And this is how Coen brothers communicates their stakes with the viewers, the innuendos are genuinely effective and mature. Its uncertainty isn't here to breed the crisp out of, it is thought provoking and is intended to speak metaphorically and also fiddle with the viewers. As mentioned earlier, Stuhlbarg's performance is what amps up this eerie drama where he gets the aspired range and finally gets a stage to flaunt it on screen that is just mesmerizing to encounter. Coen brothers' execution might be decent as per usual but their tightly packed screenplay soars throughout the course of the feature with an appealing ideologies and layered analysis of theories. The thin line between science and malleable mythological that it walks on is why it's so perfectly balanced and to the point. The distracted route cannot be feasible and the makers keep an eye on it on each frame, their crystal clear vision cannot be seduced this time. A Serious Man is a serious tale, no matter how it may be fabricated, the raw core material is both hot and heavy.
Although they sometimes provide us with almost incomprehensible films and this is quite unpleasant, the Coen Brothers deserve my respect for the very skillful way they usually balanced themselves, with one foot in intellectual cinema (which spends more time in festivals than in theaters) and another foot in the common commercial cinema. In this case, I confess that I was expecting something different, although I do not know exactly what I was expecting.
The film has a very simple yet effective structure, clearly inspired by the biblical story of Job: Larry is a respected Jewish teacher who teaches at a Jewish college, is married, and has a couple of children. But his life quickly turns into an ordeal: his wife has a lover and asks for a divorce; His children only think of them and the younger one uses drugs; His job at school is put at the stake after a dissatisfied student causes him some problems... this dilemma makes Larry turn to his faith and seek an answer to the simpler question: "Why". The Jewish rabbis are unanimous: this is an answer we almost never get. The audience understands the story but the subliminal message is so subtle that it can pass alongside. The ending, open and sudden, displeased me because I was waiting for a conclusion. Only later I understand that the end of the movie comes when we least expect it, just like the end of our life.
Religion and philosophy are always present. However, it's not one of those films that you need to have a PhD to understand, although it's complex and tries to provoke some reflection. It's also far from being preachy because, as I easily realized, religion is almost an element of humor and parody. Nor could the irony of the Coen Brothers be absent. In addition to all the jokes around religion, there is also harsh criticism of our society. All the people in the film appear to be honest, serious and reliable but this, as the film subtly reveals, is an illusion. Each one has its sins and things that they want to hide, but they are "serious men".
This movie is seriously strange. It is wacky and filled with moments that feel as if they have no relation to the last. The story wasn't even interesting. Just not worth watching ever again.
Is this a comedy or a drama because i don't know and for that matter i don't care either because it wouldn't have helped the movie if i knew. This movie disgust me with its boring and stupid main character. Sorry Cohen brothers but this one ****.