Review of A Serious Man (2009) by Gavin S — 09 Nov 2011

This is a Coen Movie, so it's kind of in a class of it's own...it's a comedy, but there's not so much laughing out loud as just shaking your head and chuckling at how much bad shit can befall one poor guy. The poor guy in question is Larry Gobnick, a physics professor in a small midwestern suburb (Minneapolis) who's wife announces she's leaving, oh and can he please move out? His brother lives on the couch because he can't get his act together; his kids barely acknowledge his existence, and to top it off, a student is trying to bribe him for better grades and then saying he'll blackmail him for taking a bribe! Poor guy must be cursed...(the prologue to the film is an interesting little Yiddish story in 19th Century Poland where he ends up cursed, and it's implied this man is an ancestor of Larry - or at least I made that leap).

The acting is spot on across the board, the kind of characters you have strong reactions to (wanting to smack the smarmy Sy Ableman who's stolen his wife; laughing at the Rabbi who tells everyone the same story whenever they have a problem, etc.). Michael Stuhlbarg as Larry is fantastic, he doesn't play him as pathetic, or whiny, or too Woody Allen-ish, but perfectly as a man who's reaction is more of a absolutely stunned and "WTF?" just happened type of demeanor.

This is a good movie for sure, and worth a watch for any Coen Bros fan. If you're not a fan, and you're not into midlife crisis, what does it all mean, what is the nature of faith/God/etc. or you don't like seeing a poor guy have life shit all over him, then this isn't for you.