A Serious Man
A Serious Man
R | 02 October 2009 (USA)
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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 pompous acquaintances Sy Ableman.

Reviews
Softwing

Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Stellead

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Cleveronix

A different way of telling a story

Phillida

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

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cricketbat

A Serious Man is seriously disappointing. This film takes the book of Job and makes it even more bleak than the original story. The dialogue and acting are actually quite good, but the story is intolerable most of the time. This is on the low end of Coen Brothers' movies.

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jzakany

I enjoy movies for the same reason many people love novels. They're an escape. A great story will take you on a journey through different worlds and will cause you to commit emotionally to it. I appreciate great acting, great direction, great cinematography, and great special effects. Some movie fans appreciate those technical aspects even more so than I because they are what make a movie "art". They can enjoy a movie merely because of superb performances of its cast regardless of the story. But, for me, I cannot call a movie "great" unless it tells a great story."A Serious Man" had some great acting. It did transport me to a different world. For a short while I lived as a middle class Jewish man in the 1970's. Those are the only good things I have to say about the movie. For me "A Serious Man" was a waste of time. The description on Netflix said, "His wife wants out. His son's a pothead. His rabbi can't help him. Poor schlub. He could do worse, but not by much." That is exactly what happens in the movie. That and nothing else. This is one of those movies where stuff happens to characters in the movie, but nothing gets resolved. Nothing is finalized. Nothing is settled. Nothing is explained. I said earlier I did feel like I was a middle class Jewish man in the 1970's. That is only because the movie makers did a good job of re-creating that world with cars, costumes, music, and props of the era. However, I would prefer reading about this era and lifestyle from an encyclopedia versus spending 115 minutes watching this movie. An encyclopedia article would have as much closure as this storyline does, it would take only a fraction of the time, and it would be equally as enjoyable. I was left so unfulfilled and dissatisfied by the movie that I had to look it up to find more about it. Who made this piece of garbage? Did it go direct to DVD? Was it a college art student's project film? That's when I found out it was written by the Cohen brothers, and it was nominated for best original screenplay and best picture. It's pretty clear the only people that like this movie are the art snobs, exactly the kind of people at the Academy. If this is an example of a "best original screen play" and "best movie" nominee I can understand why we have so many super hero movies coming out now days.

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Filipe Neto

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".

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peterm1

It kind of cracks me up when I read people saying they do not understand this movie and that makes it a bad movie. (People today love simplistic answers - even if they are wrong. It is much more reassuring that having to think). In this case at least isn't this the point though? Life IS like that. The core of the movie seems to be about the inscrutability of the universe and of God's purpose. Or is there a God? It does not ask this question outright - but it is hanging there. Together with the question we all have - we are convinced there must be an answer to - what is OUR purpose? Poor old Larry Gubnik, always being a serious man. Always doing what's right and in return being served up a big steaming pile of drek. Seeking answers from God (or the Rabbi) and getting nonsense - or getting no answer at all. Very dark. But I have been there myself at times in my life when all of my plans have been crapped upon by the universe - trying the same things Larry tried, asking the same questions Larry asked but - Silence. So I get it. I get what Larry is going through. And of course some reviewers have pointed out the similarities to the biblical story of Job. But did anyone else pick up the symbolism in the movie of Larry, up on the roof, twisting the TV antenna to get a better reception - a message from the ether? When this is also exactly the theme of the movie. Poor old Larry cannot even get "F Troop" clearly. How can he expect to get a clear message from God. This was not a coincidence, folks. Those sneeky Coen brothers!The movie also raises issues many Jews specifically have had to ask themselves in the face of say, writ large, the holocaust. Jews confronted by outright malice and evil or by just by being in the wrong place at the wrong time ask themselves that eternal question. If there is a God, why does he let bad things happen. For some this was the trigger to turn off religion. For others it strengthened their faith somehow. So at another level the movie is about what is it about to be a Jew and to ask yourself the same questions that Jews have asked themselves down the ages. In this case "What's going on?" as the Coen's express it.Also I have a sneeky feeling this movie is also biographical in a way. The Coens grew up in the twin cities area of USA in the 1960s I have read. They would have been Bar Mitvah'd in a synagogue much like the one depicted and the Jewish characters would have been much like those depicted too. The life questions they may have asked themselves as they became adults would have been much like those asked in the movie and even if all the bad stuff did not happen to them personally they may well have feared it would - will I get an urgent call from my doctor about a routine xray? Will my kid's Bar Mitzvah go OK. Will my wife run off with another man, taking everything I have including my family, self respect and my understanding of who I am? In other words perhaps all the normal stuff of life. But written in bold type both because us Jews are a neurotic bunch and because it is damn good material for black comedy. As Woody Allen found out before them.But of course the Coens would not have gotten any answers to these questions just as Larry did not. Silence. Zip. Bupkis. But there is one thing I learned that life taught me and maybe this is part of the message too. Nice guys too often DO finish last. If you are too nice, too compliant, too good, people will take advantage and crap on you. And maybe the universe does too, although in its case, not because it is malicious, but rather, just uncaring. And that is a lesson poor old Larry never learned.

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