A Serious Man

"A Serious Man" is a dark comedy written, directed, and produced by Joel and Ethan Coen ("Barton Fink," "Fargo," "The Big Lebowski," "No Country For Old Men," "Burn After Reading," etc). The cast includes several not very well known actors: Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Fred Melamed, and Sari Lennick. Yep...probably the most well-known cast member is Richard Kind who was part of the "Mad About You" cast.

First of all this movie kind of has a plot! (unlike a certain "Big Lebowski"). The movie takes place in Minnesota, circa 1967. Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) has the typical life. He's a physics professor at a college. His brother, Arthur (Richard Kind), is living on his family's couch. He has a wife, Judith (Sari Lennick), who is having an affair with Sy Abelman (Fred Melamed) and one night decides she and Larry had better start talking about getting a divorce and that it might be a good idea for him to move out of the house and into the "Jolly Roger" motel. Oh yeah...Larry also has a son, Danny, who smokes marijuana, watches more "F Troop" than the average person, and is about to be bar mitzvahed, and a daughter, Sarah, who may or may not be stealing money from her dad to get a nose job. So Larry's life is falling apart (including an Asian man who wants to sue him for failing his son on his exam). He is trying to make sense of it all...and being a respectable Jewish person seeks help from a wide range of rabbis.

The acting in this movie is fantastic. Cast-wise it's the complete opposite of the Coen's last movie, "Burn After Reading," which had an all-star cast. Nevertheless, a cast of mainly unknowns in "A Serious Man" worked so well. A great group of actors was chosen. They all had tremendous chemistry with each other and were just convincing in their roles. Michael Stuhlbarg was perfect as the lead character. He is very believable as a man whose life is coming to pieces and is just trying to get some clarity while he puts up with way too much. He also has some great dream sequence scenes that let us know how the crazy things in his life have affected him. Richard Kind, as his brother, was also a result of some great casting. He is just such a funny actor and seems like the right choice to play someone who spends most of his time on the couch, in the bathroom draining something gross, or gambling. I won't talk about every single actor in the movie...most of which I had never heard of before...but trust me they are all good...except the kids really annoyed me.

The movie is unbelievably funny...and no cheap laughs to be found here either...since those are rarely, if ever, funny. The writing is just so smart with slight dark undertones and it works out wonderfully. Nothing is exaggerated and, for the most part, people say their lines straight. The way Larry just lets things happen to him is just great and works out to be pretty hilarious many times. It wouldn't even make sense to list the funny things in the movie...since reading funny things isn't usually that fun of a time...although I will say both neighbors in the movie have very funny scenes. Just watch the movie and experience it for yourself...watch the trailer first to get pumped.

The visuals and the sound in "A Serious Man" are stunning. Everything looks like it's actually from the 1960s (of course my perception of what the 1960s looks like mainly comes from "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and "Bewitched"). The coloring of all the set pieces and everything made out for a nice little slice of suburbia. The camera movements throughout the film are also used effectively. There are several close ups to get facial expressions from characters as well as long shots changing to close ups as the camera zooms in. All of it flows very naturally and makes the movie appealing. Sound in the movie is often exaggerated for great effect. Larry's head banging against the wall, a secretary coughing, ice knocking together in a glass, etc, are all overly pronounced and just add an artistic piece the film that I thought worked well and complimented the cinematography.

The beginning and ending of the film actually really confused me. I didn't see how the beginning related to the film and I thought the end was abrupt. Then Larry Bean explained it to me and everything was fine.

The Coen brothers make great movies. Their movie-making style is a little different and a little darker than most, which is what makes their movies so great. Of the 8 films by the Coen's that I have seen, "A Serious Man" is now definitely one of my favorites. The acting, writing, cinematography, soundtrack, etc, just come together incredibly well in a wonderfully put together and highly memorable experience. And it's just incredibly funny...and it is so hard to make a good comedy these days. 4 out of 4 stars...and don't worry...according to the end credits "No Jews were harmed in the making of this motion picture."...it honestly says that and I thought it was great...

-Joseph Sbrilli