A Serious Man (2009)

2.5

COMEDY/DRAMA
U.S. Release Date: 10/02/09
Running Length: 105 Minutes
MPAA Classification: R (Profanity, Nudity, Sexual Situations)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Fred Melamed, Sari Lennick, Aaron Wolff, Jessica McManus, Adam Arkin
Director: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Screenplay: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Cinematography: Roger Deakins
Music: Carter Burwell
U.S. Distributor: Focus Features

Review by: Carter Moulton

1/04/10

I screened A Serious Man at a small, old, rundown, deserted theater. There were a total of four people in attendance, including my girlfriend Elizabeth and I. The film begins with a sequence set in the medieval times and spoken in Yiddish. Needless to say I, having seen the trailers and knowing the film takes place in 1967, got out of my seat to make sure we were in the right theater. We were. Continue.

Following this opening scene is a “get ready to be blown out of the water with our film” title sequence, and finally, the beginning of a film I wanted to see. Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) is a physics professor, father, husband, neighbor, and most importantly, a Jew. The Coens’ film is centered around the Jewish community and Gopnik’s relationship to faith. He’s going to need it: a student bribes him for a passing grade with thousands of dollars and then threatens to sue; his wife leaves him for another man, Sy Ableman; he becomes entangled in a property battle with his sharp-shooting neighbor; dear old Uncle Arthur (Richard Kind), who stays at the Gopnik house, has a run in with the authorities for his gambling habits; his neighbor on the other side is a sex-crazed woman; A Serious Man, basically, is like watching someone drown.

The performances are mostly on point. Fred Melamed is amusing as the tranquilizing Sy Ableman, the family friend (now in love with Judith Gopnik) who seems to know all of life’s answers. Aaron Wolff, in his first feature film, adds some complexity to Danny, Gopnik’s son, a pot-smoking rebel about to become a bar mitzvah. And Michael Stuhlbarg channels Michael Showalter in an amusing performance as Gopnik, although the Coen’s script never give him that defining moment—the moment where he goes bat-crazy and releases every ounce of frustration out—he’s looking for.

Photo © Focus Features

Instead, there’s a lack of focus, and a runtime that feels two times longer than it actually is. The major theme, which is revealed through discussions with rabbis and Uncle Arthur, is that Gopnik, as well as all of us, can’t question Hashem (God) for what happens to us. Just as this is true, this doesn’t mean we can’t question Joel and Ethan Coen, two acclaimed “Gods” of the cinema.

Why the abrupt ending? It’s a similar conclusion to No Country For Old Men (a film I did not enjoy), although that was from source material. Where’s the emotional connectivity? A Serious Man, as mentioned earlier, is like watching someone drown, but why don’t I care that someone’s drowning? Why are some scenes, such as Danny’s bar mitzvah, so long and drawn out? Why are some scenes, such as Gopnik’s interaction with Uncle Arthur, so underdeveloped and brief?

The performances are too good to simply “not recommend” A Serious Man, and much of the writing is witty enough in its dark humor. It’s laugh-out-loud funny at times, and the first half of the film is a winner, but as Gopnik’s life falls apart, the film cracks, to a lesser extent.

There’ll always be questions about God. That’s why it’s called faith. But I refuse to put my faith in the Coens—there’s too much inconsistency. Fargo and Miller’s Crossing prove that these filmmakers are indeed special; films like Burn After Reading, No Country for Old Men, and now A Serious Man leave me scratching my head.