Review of A Serious Man (2009) by James R — 11 Apr 2011

This was... the most nihilistic movie the Coen Brothers have ever released. I am staggered. It was not as bloody or disturbing as "Fargo" but it was far more unsettling in its disruption of any notion of continuity or meaning--the world of "A Serious Man" seems to be consciously seeking to demonstrate that it is not conscious at all, that there is no method to its madness beyond arbitrarily dealing out pain and death. I was convinced, almost until the end, that the plot would resolve itself neatly and leave the main characters feeling somehow changed and enlightened by their wacky and darkly comical experiences. No such resolution came. Chaos is God in this film.

This is a very new direction for the Coen Brothers. There has always been a sense of fate or divinity guiding the protagonists in their films ("O Brother, Where Art Thou" and "No Country For Old Men" are particularly noteworthy for this) but in "A Serious Man" that fate seems implied to be an illusion, a random pattern to which the characters ascribe their own meanings. Does it work? Absolutely; the existential dread is almost palpable. It is bizarre and unorthodox for the Coens but a worthy addition to their legacy.