A Serious Man

So the Coen Brothers take on the Jewish community in their standard “follow up a serious, dramatic, award-winning film with a funny, satirical film” formula. And they are in their normal rare form as usual. The film follows a father/teacher who lives through his days – dealing with a wife who’s divorcing film, a foreign student who’s blackmailing him, the wrong way, and never ending sibling bickering. The film is an awkward mess for the main character and we get to sit front row and watch him crash and burn slowly. But it’s extremely entertaining nonetheless.

This film taps into the same vein as THE BIG LEBOWSKI and BURN AFTER READING. We’re introduced to very unique characters and forced to follow them as they live out their days. And they always have some hilarity wrapped around them. Whether they are extreme dudesy bowlers, or gym members, etc., they are always interesting to watch.

“The uncertainty principle… It just tells us that nothing in life is ever certain.” And then the camera pulls back to one of the most intense shots of the film; the world’s largest chalkboard, completely filled from top to bottom. So magnificent. The teacher continues: “And even though you’ll never been able to figure it out, you’ll be held accountable to know it on the midterm.” It’s lines like that that summarize this film. It’s just so ridiculous that it is hilarious.

And there are a lot of those situations in this film. I especially love the scene where the father has to walk down the hallway to console his wife who is grieving over the loss of their neighbor, who she was cheating on him with. “Who died?” … “My wife’s… It’s a long story.” You can’t make situations like that up. Reminds me of THE SOPRANOS where Carmella yells at Tony for “Now you’re making me feel pity for a whore who f***s you!” Such a great dynamic situation to throw our little ants into.

This film is in true Coen Brothers lazy, humor style. It’s beautifully shot and the characters are a lot of fun to watch run around. The pacing is slow and the film could care less about making it progress any faster. It does what it will do, and I think it bodes well for its overall tone.

Rating: 8/10