Should I laugh? Should I cry? Should I feel sympathy? These are just some of the questions I was asking during and after watching the Coen brothers’ latest film A Serious Man. It’s one of those films I can’t help but walk out with questions on top of questions. Loaded with priceless moments of dialogue essential to getting a clear picture of the film’s intentions, A Serious Man demands your attention and is a picture that is sure to improve the more you see it.
Not being the scholarly religious type I had to read up to learn A Serious Man bears resemblance to the Old Testament Book of Job, and the brothers recognize this fact, but have since said it wasn’t on their mind while writing the screenplay. Set in an unnamed Midwestern suburb in 1967, the selling point many critics are already clinging to is how it’s an atmosphere closely mirroring the neighborhood the Coens themselves grew up in. As a result A Serious Man is being called the brothers’ most personal film to date, the kind of film you get to make after compiling a portfolio highlighted by four Oscars for No Country for Old Men.
Exploring everything from a person’s sense of responsibility, morals, familial duties, relationships and religion with an intense focus on Judaism, the best way I can describe A Serious Man and how it affected me is to call it a “roll with the punches” Jewish fable. But it doesn’t end there, and it obviously can’t based on everything I just rattled off, but when the film opens with a quote from the French rabbi Rashi reading, “Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you,” I really can’t think of a better way to put things. Then again, the way it ends will leave you staring at the credits for a minute or so before finally realizing the Coens aren’t going to give you anymore to chew on and you are now on your own with Jefferson Airplane’s “Somebody to Love” as your only source of advisement.
At the center of the story is Larry Gobnick played to absolute everyman perfection by stage actor Michael Stuhlbarg. Larry is a university physics professor who is about to have the world around him come crashing down all at once. His wife is leaving him for the overly intimate touchy-feely Sy Ableman (Fred Melamed). His eccentric brother (Richard Kind) is sleeping on his couch, his daughter is stealing money from his wallet and saving up for a nose job and his son is addicted to F-Troop on television and marijuana all while preparing for his ever approaching bar mitzvah.
At work Larry is facing the anxiety of waiting for the tenure committee’s decision while at the same time learning anonymous letters are arriving in an attempt to sabotage his chances. On top of that a Korean student is asking to have an “F” changed to a passing grade and offers Larry a bribe to solve the problem, which his moral compass refuses to accept. What does it all mean? Where is it going? The father of the Korean student adds some sage advice to the earlier Rashi quote – “Accept the mystery.” It’s a laugh-out-loud and equally profound statement arriving in the heart of this picture answering my first two questions in three little words. A Serious Man is a damn funny, yet serious movie, and deserves appreciation for walking the tight rope with such skill.
Along with Stuhlarg, Serious Man is loaded with unknown actors, which speaks highly of the brothers’ ability to find talent as each performance is picture perfect and along with the help of frequent casting director Ellen Chenoweth you know these actors are delivering the performances exactly as the Coens intend them to. On top of that, all the behind-the-scenes regulars are here as Carter Burwell supplies the score and Roger Deakins provides yet another picture perfect film from the DP’s chair. However, most notable to me was the sound design by Craig Berkey. Never before in such a suburban, every-day film have I noticed the sound work as I did here, it’s some of the best of the year.
However, on top of the always excellent directorial work turned in by the Coens, the script for A Serious Man is perhaps the highest achievement and the main reason I am already considering going and seeing it again as soon as next week. Along with the quote I already mentioned and the one line of dialogue, there are several single lines delivered throughout this film that spell out the story and the message of the film, be it the off-kilter advice of one of the film’s three rabbis or the lyrics to a song. Never before have I believed the words of the Coens meant so much and I say this to help you maximize your first time viewing so you can hopefully come away from this film with even more than I did.
If this doesn’t come off as a complete review I apologize, perhaps this is a film slightly beyond my reach, or it is quite simply one of those films you don’t digest all at once. Whatever the case may be I intend to revisit it again, something I have felt is necessary with so many of the Coens’ films. Of the brothers’ more notable efforts only Miller’s Crossing and Fargo were an instant “get” for me, but as with the majority of Coen films a seed is planted making sure the film roots itself and grows inside you over time. I feel no embarrassment saying I need to see this film again to get a firm grasp, but I know in repeated viewings it’s either going to settle to a happy medium or perhaps escalate and become an all-time favorite.
A Serious Man is a good film, but how good it is is yet to be determined.
