Review of A Serious Man (2009) by Monty H — 20 Mar 2011
Even a middling Coehn Brothers movie is better than most, and they prove this here yet again. Since I can't see True Grit again right now I picked this up on blue-ray. The Coehn's have a gift for framing faces: clearly defined, close-ups that rely on little dialog and lots of slow-burn reaction.
You know what the character is thinking, so why spoon-feed us the actual words. My absolute favorites (Raising Arizona, Fargo, Big Lebowski) are chock full of these moments. All three also present life much like this movie: a series of events out of our control and beyond our understanding.
Although I appreciate the art direction that in every detail is 1967, and the untidy metaphor of an ending is superb, I'll file this one next to Barton Fink (which I still haven't deciphered).
This review of A Serious Man (2009) was written by Monty H on 20 Mar 2011.
A Serious Man has generally received positive reviews.
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