Review of A Serious Man (2009) by Arth J — 21 Sep 2018

No matter how it may be fabricated..

A Serious Man.

A Serious Man is a character driven comic drama about a physics teacher whose "safe" life somehow changes the lane to the opposite side of a one way street. Contrary to usual Coen brothers' feature, it is funny and not because of its ingenuity in writing skills or the tiny humoristic notions imputed, but its Stuhlbarg's inexpressive, baffled and uncertain expressions that draws out most of the laughs.

The sound effects are aptly bred if doesn't do much on background score with a decent cinematography and editing that keeps it to the definite point. The narrative is gripping, adaptive and layered with a slow pill nature where despite of its sadism, it crawls up to you and makes you feel for its characters. And this is how Coen brothers communicates their stakes with the viewers, the innuendos are genuinely effective and mature.

Its uncertainty isn't here to breed the crisp out of, it is thought provoking and is intended to speak metaphorically and also fiddle with the viewers. As mentioned earlier, Stuhlbarg's performance is what amps up this eerie drama where he gets the aspired range and finally gets a stage to flaunt it on screen that is just mesmerizing to encounter.

Coen brothers' execution might be decent as per usual but their tightly packed screenplay soars throughout the course of the feature with an appealing ideologies and layered analysis of theories. The thin line between science and malleable mythological that it walks on is why it's so perfectly balanced and to the point. The distracted route cannot be feasible and the makers keep an eye on it on each frame, their crystal clear vision cannot be seduced this time.

A Serious Man is a serious tale, no matter how it may be fabricated, the raw core material is both hot and heavy.