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A Serious Man

A Serious Man

2009

The masterful Coen brothers (No Country For Old Men, The Big Lebowski) present a black comedy set in 1967, about Larry Gopnik, a physics professor who watches his life unravel when his wife leaves him.

If that wasn't enough, Larry's inept brother (Spin City's Richard Kind) won't move out of the house, his son has a discipline problem, his daughter's stealing his money for her nose job, somebody is trying to sabotage his university career and his neighbour sunbathes nude. Larry turns to three rabbis for advice...

Starring Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Simon Helberg, Adam Arkin, George Wyner, Katherine Borowitz, Fyvush Finkel

Directed by Ethan Coen, Joel Coen ('Burn After Reading', 'No Country For Old Men', 'The Man Who Wasn't There', 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?', 'The Big Lebowski', 'Fargo')

Written by Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Cinematographer Roger Deakins ('The Reader', 'No Country For Old Men', 'Jarhead', 'The Shawshank Redemption')

Music by Carter Burwell ('Burn After Reading', 'In Bruges', 'Before the Devil Knows You're Dead')

Comedy | 1hr 46mins | Origin: USA | NZ Distributor: Paramount Pictures | Official Site »

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The people's reviews

11 reviews

  • The Dude vs Gopnik

    Bonux

    Superstar (?)

    A Serious Man does not describe the absurdity of some archaic traditions as much as it describes the absurdity of the community and the false sense of belonging it provides to their members. (staying together without a cause) It is the tragedy of mankind viewed from one specific angle, but it is nothing new. The biggest let down if I compare the character of the Dude (The Big Lebowski) and Larry Gopnik's is that Gopnik unlike the Dude is supposed to be a very educated man. Except that from start to finish, Gopnik is just clueless and his character is not progressing one bit and neither is my perception of him. He is a coward and he always will be. Whereas in The Big Lebowski, if you remember at the end of the movie the cowboy (the narrative voice in the movie) addresses the viewer and says something like "I don't know about you, but it is reassuring to know there is someone like the Dude out there" and what a fantastic conclusion it was.
    The Dude was depicted as a loser who turns out to be able to make his own destiny. This is why the Dude is reassuring and likable when Gopnik is not.
    The Big Lebowski and A Serious Man are two satires about society, one from the eye of the outsider, the other from the eye of the community. Only The Big Lebowski succeeds in being a comedy with a relevant twist.
    This is why, in my opinion The Big Lebowski remains by far the best Coen movie and A Serious Man by far the worst one.

    Agree? Disagree?...

  • The worst Coen movie so far.

     1

    Bonux

    Superstar (?)

    The main character and his family are total idiots in a non-farcical way, his "journey" through the "mistery of faith" is so insignificant it will make you hope for the Big Lebowski to burst through a scene and kick their sorry behinds. There is no storyline, no direction in that movie. Start, middle and end have no linkage whatsoever, it is like deconstructed food on a film and it does not make for a happy watching. I am not sure what the viewer is supposed to think of A Serious Man. I could not find any sympathy for any of the characters, in fact I found myself to dislike them intensely. I would be curious to know what the New Zealand Jewish community thought of it. I guess you have to see it as a caricature but since it lacks the fun or the wit factor, I found it hard not to perceive it as a documentary about a seriously archaic and naive bunch. I am usually a big fan of the Coen brothers who have a real knack for creating excellent deadbeat characters but in this movie the characters seem all too real without that little thing that makes you like them for what they are. The ending is like the rest of the movie, it is abrupt not in a revealing pleasant way but abrupt like someone cut the power off because it was so boring someone had to put an end to the misery. Overall it was incomprehensible because there was simply nothing to comprehend. A Serious Man takes you for a free ride for the price of an admission ticket (or a DVD in my case). The story at the beginning of the movie, what was it even about? Who knows. Watching "A Serious Man" made me feel like visiting one of those Rabbi making his way through porky pies. Was it a comedy? I doubt so, it missed all the marks of a comedy. Was it a satire of the Jewish community in the 60's? It is more likely, but why market it as a comedy then? I was after some serious laughters, I did not get a single one. Pointless movie from A to Z. Where is the Big Lebowski when you need him... Seriously uncool.

    Agree? Disagree?...

  • Review

     4

    Mark

    Nobody (?)

    You can't take this movie too seriously. It is like a homage to middle-class Jewish American life in the 60s.

    Agree? Disagree?...

  • comedy?

     2

    FilmCritick

    Nobody (?)

    this movie was really boring to watch and dull, there is nothing funny about it, maybe it's funny because of how serious everyone in the movie is.

    Agree? Disagree?...

  • lisa you dont know what your talking about

     4

    Philip-Moore

    Superstar (?)

    The first scene does have relevance when that women rids the evil spirit that is reference to larry accepting the money from the student therefore he accepts evil and bad things happen. Most people like me and some wise critics love this movie and think this is one of the coens best you obviously no nothing about film, go back to watch some crap like twilight that your little brain would probably love it

    Agree? Disagree?...

  • Take a look in the mirror

     5

    Maggie O'Brien

    Nobody (?)

    Inspired! The last song alone is worth the trip. Excruciatingly demonstrates the utter absurdity of life. Wry, dry, witty and satirical; affords insight into cultural clashes, religious rituals and treasures. Like watching the car-crash of your own life whilst being unable to intervene. Larry's on a downward spiral, but we take the ride with him and feel his foibles as our own. Reminiscent of Alan Bennett in a "Talking Heads" sort of way.

    Magical music.

    Agree? Disagree?...

  • Modernity, in a nutshell

     5

    Mike Wilson

    Nobody (?)

    Yeah, it's totally American and totally Jewish and it's the closest we have to an autobiography of the Coen Brothers. The whole message of this movie is in the refrain, "I didn't do anything". Life happens to us schmucks, it comes from where we least expect it, it's almost always bad, and no - we don't deserve it because, well, shit - I didn't do anything - to deserve it. So actually the ending is completely cathartic, and it's wonderment is totally comprehensible. It just makes you want to jump off a bridge. But then, it's a Coen Bros movie.

    Agree? Disagree?...

  • Bad bad bad bad!

     1

    Lisa

    Nobody (?)

    My two friends and I went to this movie last night based on the good reviews from this website.
    Basically we all thought it was terrible (and so did a few others in the theatre from what we heard).
    Long, very little happened during the movie; throughout the theatre there was hardly any laughter; no ending and the opening scene had no relevance to the rest of the movie at all.

    Would not see again.

    Agree? Disagree?...

  • OUTRAGE!!

    Frey

    Nobody (?)

    Why isn't this movie playing downtown? ...give up reviewing Paul

    Agree? Disagree?...

  • Incomprehensible, yet wonderful

     4

    Paul

    Nobody (?)

    This was a very compelling film, it's incomprehensible. You're left wondering - 'what does it mean'? I left feeling a bit unsatisfied, but I keep thinking about it and the more I think about it the more I like it. I'd see it again.

    Agree? Disagree?...

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Press Reviews

  • Chicago Sun Times (Roger Ebert)

    Have I mentioned A Serious Man is so rich and funny? This isn't a laugh-laugh movie, but a wince-wince movie. Those can be funny too.
    Read full review

  • Empire (UK)

     5

    Admirably low-key, deeply compelling and their warmest movie since Fargo.
    Read full review

  • Hollywood Reporter

    A seriously funny film about an angst-ridden Jewish professor seeking the answers to life's questions and getting a metaphysical pie in the face.
    Read full review

  • New York Times

    The story is at once hilarious and horrific, its significance both self-evident and opaque. The same could be said of most of the Coen brothers’ movies, in which human existence and the attempt to find meaning in it are equally futile, if also sometimes a lot of fun. (For us, at least.)
    Read full review

  • NZ Herald (Peter Calder)

     3

    But it's finally more grim than funny and leaves us with the same uncomfortable feeling that Burn did: that the boys are more interested in their own amusement than their audience's.
    Read full review

  • Rolling Stone (USA)

    This seriously funny movie, artfully photographed by the great Roger Deakins, is spiritual in nature, barbed in tone, and, oh, yeah, it stings like hell.
    Read full review

  • Time Out (New York)

     5

    See this film immediately.
    Read full review

  • Total Film (UK)

     4

    A complex, non-commercial Coen film that strips back the stars for an absorbing, affectionate look at the Bros’ youth. It keeps much at arm’s length, but with Stuhlbarg holding the disorder in check, A Serious Man will be a serious contender for Coen fan Top Fives.
    Read full review

  • Variety (USA)

    One doesn't know how (auto)biographical any or all of this is, but there's a tartness to the telling of what amounts to a well-shaped series of anecdotes that bespeaks distant pain or, at least, wincing memory twisted into mordant comedy by time and sensibility.
    Read full review

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