I really liked A Serious Man. It was much better than the Coen’s previous effort; being more thoughtful and much funnier. It’s not just about some man and his midlife crisis, but about faith and perspective in 60′s suburbia. God plays a big role in the film, governing everyone’s lives for better or for worse, yet he remains awfully silent as our title characters points out. Only bad things happen to Larry, and not even his faith can guide him through his troubles. His visits to three different rabbis prove to be wastes of time, as they merely speculate about their own problems and leave Larry behind. One tells a long story about a man finding a message in someone’s teeth, but efforts to figure out what He is trying to tell him are given up and forgotten eventually.
Michael Stuhlbarg plays Larry, a married high school professor whose wife suddenly decides to leave him for his best friend Sy Ableman (“Sy Ableman?! Larry blurts out, quivering with shock and anxiety). He has the kind of brother who lingers around his house, the kind of son who summons him to fix the television antenna at the most inconvenient of times, and the kind of daughter who just… washes her hair. Although she can’t; her uncle practically lives in the bathroom.
He’s bothered by a failing Asian student whose attempts at bribing him for a better grade turn to threats of a lawsuit. Sy is probably my favorite character; consolidating Larry every step of the way before kicking him out of his own house to live at the Jolly Roger. Sy already has his own huge estate, so it would make more sense for Judith to move in with him, but the Jolly Roger is the appropriate course of action.
Bad things happen to Larry for no reason. His wife leaves him because their marriage is “going downhill”. Nobody’s “done” anything, as she points out, it just is (no one’s playing the blame game, Sy tells him). Larry can’t even get a good night’s sleep, as he suffers from vivid night terrors that start as pleasant dreams of him solving all his problems.
You must be wondering why I’m meandering around with the plot synopsis. If I could, I would spend my entire review talking about the brilliant ending I can’t spoil for you. It’s the kind of conclusion that will decide whether you love or hate A Serious Man, and I loved it. Technically, it’s perfect. The setting looks great, the acting is spot-on, and the cinematography is beautiful. It’s up for Best Picture and Original Screenplay, and I sincerely hope it wins one of those (although I am dissapointed by the lack of a Best Director nom). Then again, I’m rooting for everything that isn’t Avatar. Yes, even The Blind Side. But not Transformers 2.
