Directed By: Ethan Coen and Joel Coen
Written By: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Starring: Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Fred Melamed, Sari Wagner Lennick, Aaron Wolff
Review:
I went into this film expecting another strange concoction from Joel and Ethan Coen and got exactly that. Like all of their movies before, this film leaves an indelible mark on your brain that you can’t get off. The Coen brothers are masters of character driven films and A Serious Man is no exception. In fact this film is much more of a character driven films because it does not have any huge well known actors in it, which makes it unique and forces it to rely more on character than a face that audiences have seen over and over in different roles.
This black comedy takes place in 1967 and follows the life of Larry Gopnik, a professor living in the Midwest. Larry is plagued with one bad thing happening to him after another. There are so many things that go wrong in Larry’s life it is almost painful to watch. His foolish brother has moved in to live with him and his wife and two children. While there he has been sucking the life out of Larry’s marriage which was already on the rocks unbeknown to Larry. Just when you think can his life get much worse the problems continue to pile up. It is almost as if Larry is a magnet and bad things find him.
Just like all Coen Brothers films, A Serious Man is well shot. I love the way they light each picture they lens. It has a realness about it and makes me feel as though I am literally standing there next to the actors as the story unfolds. I also have noticed that each Coen Brothers film has a wonderful soundtrack. This piano tune that plays throughout the film is great as well as the Jefferson Airplane song which is used. This film has an extremely strong Jewish background and tone and many of the jokes are not as funny unless you are Jewish, which I am not. This film does have an underlying theme that everyone can relate to at some point in the film and you can truly feel sorry for the Larry but at the same time admire him for what he has in his life. Remember, things could always be worse. That is the message that the film shows and one message I don’t mind taking away from it. All in all this was a decent film with an interesting story but it lacks the awesomeness of Burn After Reading, The Big Lebowski or No Country for Old Men.
Fitz (5)
FRC Ruben (5)
Peter E. (3)
Bartleby (1)
Dan (1)
This review intrigues me.
You’ve mentioned a lot of what you like about the film (story, characters, photography, music), but yet only gave it an “OK” rating of 2.5 out of 4.
Was there a lot more than the inside joking that left you cold?
That is a good point and in hindsight I may have given it less stars than it deserves but am sticking with the initial stars because I feel that this film is not on the same level as other Coen Brothers films. It is a good film but not great and therefore warrants the stars I gave it.