The Coen brothers have created their darkest comedy yet in A Serious Man, where hero Larry Gopnik (Golden Globe nominee Michael Stuhlbarg) faces non-stop spiritual desolation.
Drawing on their Jewish roots in a 1967 Minnesota suburb, Joel and Ethan Coen (Fargo, Burn After Reading) cast Stuhlbarg as a physics professor and victim of fate. His life is a farce directly out of the Book of Job.
His wife (Sari Lennick) announces that she's leaving him for the nervy Sy Abelman (Fred Melamed, a dead ringer for beat poet Allen Ginsberg). Larry's tenure seems uncertain. A failing student blackmails him. His brother-in-law (Richard Kind) hogs the family bathroom, and is arrested for risqué behavior. Larry's son Danny (Aaron Wolff) is a stoner owing money to a bully, and his daughter Sarah (Jessica McManus) wants a nose job. The two are so indifferent to Larry, they seem like strangers.
Up on the roof one day Larry adjusts the antenna so Danny can watch F Troop. For a precious moment, he's above it all, surveying the neighborhood. Just then he spies neighbor Mrs. Samsky (Amy Landecker) sunbathing topless. Here is the ultimate temptation.
Why all the bad luck? In a foreboding prologue, a Yiddish couple accidentally invites into their home a dybbuk (the wandering soul of a dead man). The resulting curse is meant to explain Larry's present-day misfortunes.
Larry seeks answers. He consults his doctor and two lawyers. But who better to help than his rabbi? Larry meets with two holy men, one young and one mature. They are wonderful philosophers, but have no answer for the seeker.
The senior Rabbi Marshak (Alan Mandell), seeming like God himself, refuses to meet with Larry. Claudia Wilkens is superb as Marhsak's portly, foreboding secretary. Like the shekinah (female face of God), she's a gatekeeper in the tradition of Kali (goddess of death and transformation).
While A Serious Man sends up Jewish culture with references to goys (non-Jews) and a painfully funny soup slurping scene, its statement is universal. Larry is a good man who must go God-direct to meet Source.
At Danny's Bar Mitzvah, Larry finds solace, even a moment of pride. He takes comfort in the ceremony and ritual of his worship community. To his credit, Larry moves beyond despair.
Desolation breaks Larry's heart open, makes him even more sweet and forgiving. Oy vey, he even forgives Sy Abelman! As the Dalai Lama says, "If people have compassion, naturally that's something they can count on."
A Serious Man brings to mind the spiritual desolation of the Coens' masterpiece No Country for Old Men. It delves into the anguish of the void to arrive at our very soul. Nominated for numerous prizes including Best Motion Picture, A Serious Man received Spirit Awards for Best Cinematography and the Robert Altman Award.
If you like A Serious Man, you might enjoy: Barney's Version; Greenberg; Win Win; Please Give.
A Serious Man / 2009 / R / 1 hr, 46 min
Cast Overview: Michael Stuhlbarg, Sari Lennick, Aaron Wolff, Jessica McManus, Richard Kind, Fred Melamed, Peter Breitmayer, Adam Arkin, David Kang
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Genres: Comedy, Dark Comedy
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