A Serious Man
A Serious Man Image
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Metascore
79 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 35 Critics What's this?

User Score
6.5 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 222 Ratings

Your Score
0 out of 10
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  • Starring: Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Sari Lennick
  • Summary: A 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 hihim. She has fallen in love with one of his more pompous acquaintances, Sy Ableman, who seems to her a more substantial person than the feckless Larry. Larry’s unemployable brother Arthur is sleeping on the couch, his son Danny is a discipline problem and a shirker at Hebrew school, and his daughter Sarah is filching money from his wallet in order to save up for a nose job. Struggling for equilibrium, Larry seeks advice from three different rabbis. Can anyone help him cope with his afflictions and become a righteous person – a mensch – a serious man? (Focus Features)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 30 out of 35
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 35
  3. Negative: 3 out of 35
  1. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    100
    Have I mentioned A Serious Man is so rich and funny? This isn't a laugh-laugh movie, but a wince-wince movie. Those can be funny too.
  2. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Kirk Honeycutt
    80
    The always surprising Coen brothers have finally made a very serious movie with A Serious Man. It's about God, man's place in the world and the meaning of life, so naturally it's one of their funnier movies.
  3. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Michael Sragow
    50
    All the Coens come up with is a movie about bad things happening to limited people.
  4. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Ella Taylor
    30
    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."

See all 35 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 50 out of 97
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 97
  3. Negative: 32 out of 97
  1. ArthurF
    10
    A movie with humor and pathos, funny lines and ultimately no conclusion. That's life. There are no definitive answers. The film has a bleak side, which predominates - there are no answers - and a hilarious side, with some good laughs.… Expand
  2. grandpajoe6191
    8
    What the Coen Bros created here is creative humor and the sad, grim realism of a everyday life of "A Serious Man". As expected, the movie will not fail you.… Expand
  3. LeeD
    6
    Seriously what are they trying to prove with this movie? yeah theyre great filmmakers and this has great qualities but it feels like the coen bros. are trying to see how many things they can deal with in one movie without solving a single thing and how many people will still like it. Dont we deserve some kind of closure in a movie?Its almost like this movie was meant to.… Expand
  4. X.
    4
    Since it's the Coen bros., it's not a total waste of time, but close. A series of unfortunate events reign down on the protagonist and it's all about as much fun to watch as it is for the main character to go through. (Very little.) There's no reason to like or care about anyone on screen. While supposedly a few elements are "funny," they're not funny in a way that you actually derive any joy out of them. I'm fine with uncomfortable comedies and bleak material, but I had no idea why I was watching any of this. The point of the movie seems to be that there is no sense to anything, which seems like a tired theme I've seen done better elsewhere. Only about three scenes piqued my interest, and wouldn't you know it? Those scenes turned out to be dream sequences. (Aren't the Coen bros. a little beyond resorting to "gotcha" dream sequences?) Most infuriating of all, though, is the ending. My jaw literally dropped when the movie ended - I could not believe I had sat through that entire movie, only to be pulled out of it when it seemed something interesting and relevant was going to happen. They could've hardly thought of a more random or frustrating ending (which might have worked and actually have been really cool if what came beforehand held more interest or weight). This was a Serious Disappointment.… Expand

See all 97 User Reviews

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