starring Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Fred Melamed
directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Last year was very good to the Coen Brothers. Not only did they win the Academy Award for Best Picture with No Country For Old Men, they released a great comedy called Burn After Reading. The Coens are immensely talented film makers, but you always have to remember this when going in to see one of their films; whether or not you are given an actual plot, the movie is about the characters and how they react to what happens around them. Basically, their films are for the most part ‘character pieces.’ Plot is, in most cases, irrelevant. The only problem is that on occasion, especially in the case of A Serious Man, the Coens take story irrelevancy way too far.
Larry Gopnik (Stuhlbarg) teaches physicsat the university, has a wife and kids, and is faithful to his local synagogue. However, on a seeminly normal day, his life starts to fall apart for no apparent reason. His wife wants a divorce so she can be with a family friend. His brother has moved in and basically taken over the bathroom. He is up for tenure at the college, but anonymous letters are being sent to the committee defaming his character. His neighbor is building a shed on Larry’s property. His son only talks to him when the TV antenna needs adjusting. And that’s only the beginning; things get much, much worse for Larry. After several suggestions from friends and family to see the rabbi he does so. In fact, he sees more than one rabbi. And the only explanation they can give to Larry is this; God gives us the questions; he doesn’t always give the answers. So, Larry’s frustration goes unchecked and begins to snowball.
To be blunt, the film in an hour and forty five minutes of watching perhaps the world’s most mild mannered man get crapped on. It is hilarious at moments, both laugh out loud and subtle. However, after sometime you begin to wonder when Larry’s breaking point is for all the madness that is being heaped upon him. The tension builds and builds, but you as the viewer are never really given the release that’s expected. Without giving much away, the film ends having resolved almost nothing. You’re left wondering if there was a point to watching this, or if you were just conned into viewing a torture session.
The acting was great. All involved really delved into their parts and brought personality to a cast of strange people. My favorite would have to be Larry’s brother Arthur (Kind). He’s an anti social mathematical genius with a weakness for gambling and sodomy. You could tell Mr. Kind had all kinds of fun playing the character. And Kudos to Michael Stuhlbarg, too. Though it was endlessly frustrating, you could see the stress and breakdown of Larry Gopnik written all over his face. You could see every little snap and crack along the way, but at the same time, he managed to pull in the reigns and keep this man that was due an eruption in check. Stuhlbarg’s performance was almost Best Actor nomination worthy. Almost.
The only other offsetting part of the film was the overly Jewishness of the film. Everything was set in the Jewish culture from the schools to the workplace of Larry Gopnik. In fact, I believe 99% of the cast was Jewish. And that’s fine, but there is a ton of Jewish humor and connotations that I know I missed. I wish there had been something in place to help me get some of the jests that were made and help me understand some of the ironies. I felt like I needed a glossary of Hebrew culture from time to time just to get what was going on. But on the other hand, congrats to the Coens for making such a Jewish film. Can’t think of one in a while that has been made exclusively for their humor and delight.
Overall, I understand why the release was so limited on the film. If the Coens had a point to make with the film, they are the only ones that know whether they achieved it or not. The audience is certainly left out of it, for the most part. Still, it is a well played and written picture of a Jew who is really trying to be a serious man, but failing horriblely. Bravo for another character piece, brothers; but give us an ending that’s clear every once in a while, eh? Go see it if you’ve got the itch; other wise, its okay to avoid this one.
A Seriously Hebrew Movie
Funny characters; vacant plot.
A Serious Man
starring Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Fred Melamed
directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Last year was very good to the Coen Brothers. Not only did they win the Academy Award for Best Picture with No Country For Old Men, they released a great comedy called Burn After Reading. The Coens are immensely talented film makers, but you always have to remember this when going in to see one of their films; whether or not you are given an actual plot, the movie is about the characters and how they react to what happens around them. Basically, their films are for the most part ‘character pieces.’ Plot is, in most cases, irrelevant. The only problem is that on occasion, especially in the case of A Serious Man, the Coens take story irrelevancy way too far.
Larry Gopnik (Stuhlbarg) teaches physicsat the university, has a wife and kids, and is faithful to his local synagogue. However, on a seeminly normal day, his life starts to fall apart for no apparent reason. His wife wants a divorce so she can be with a family friend. His brother has moved in and basically taken over the bathroom. He is up for tenure at the college, but anonymous letters are being sent to the committee defaming his character. His neighbor is building a shed on Larry’s property. His son only talks to him when the TV antenna needs adjusting. And that’s only the beginning; things get much, much worse for Larry. After several suggestions from friends and family to see the rabbi he does so. In fact, he sees more than one rabbi. And the only explanation they can give to Larry is this; God gives us the questions; he doesn’t always give the answers. So, Larry’s frustration goes unchecked and begins to snowball.
To be blunt, the film in an hour and forty five minutes of watching perhaps the world’s most mild mannered man get crapped on. It is hilarious at moments, both laugh out loud and subtle. However, after sometime you begin to wonder when Larry’s breaking point is for all the madness that is being heaped upon him. The tension builds and builds, but you as the viewer are never really given the release that’s expected. Without giving much away, the film ends having resolved almost nothing. You’re left wondering if there was a point to watching this, or if you were just conned into viewing a torture session.
The acting was great. All involved really delved into their parts and brought personality to a cast of strange people. My favorite would have to be Larry’s brother Arthur (Kind). He’s an anti social mathematical genius with a weakness for gambling and sodomy. You could tell Mr. Kind had all kinds of fun playing the character. And Kudos to Michael Stuhlbarg, too. Though it was endlessly frustrating, you could see the stress and breakdown of Larry Gopnik written all over his face. You could see every little snap and crack along the way, but at the same time, he managed to pull in the reigns and keep this man that was due an eruption in check. Stuhlbarg’s performance was almost Best Actor nomination worthy. Almost.
The only other offsetting part of the film was the overly Jewishness of the film. Everything was set in the Jewish culture from the schools to the workplace of Larry Gopnik. In fact, I believe 99% of the cast was Jewish. And that’s fine, but there is a ton of Jewish humor and connotations that I know I missed. I wish there had been something in place to help me get some of the jests that were made and help me understand some of the ironies. I felt like I needed a glossary of Hebrew culture from time to time just to get what was going on. But on the other hand, congrats to the Coens for making such a Jewish film. Can’t think of one in a while that has been made exclusively for their humor and delight.
Overall, I understand why the release was so limited on the film. If the Coens had a point to make with the film, they are the only ones that know whether they achieved it or not. The audience is certainly left out of it, for the most part. Still, it is a well played and written picture of a Jew who is really trying to be a serious man, but failing horriblely. Bravo for another character piece, brothers; but give us an ending that’s clear every once in a while, eh? Go see it if you’ve got the itch; other wise, its okay to avoid this one.