Brandon: Ah, a Coen Brothers film! These guys are truly great filmmakers. I love how they take characters that are somehow representative of a particular group - such as North Dakotans in Fargo, aging hippies in The Big Lebowski, cowboys and bounty hunters in No Country for Old Men, and a 1960's Jewish family here in A Serious Man - and they place them in extraordinary situations to see how such a character would react. Their films are always fascinating character studies.Jenni: This movie is no exception. Set in the 1960's, A Serious Man focuses on Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg), a college physics professor and devout member of his Jewish community who struggles to maintain his faith while his life suddenly starts to fall apart. The Coen's take what appears to be a very simple premise, but they populate this narrative with such complex and fully developed characters that Larry's struggles seem epic.
Brandon: Larry struggles, a man of science confronted with a crisis of faith, all the while trying to do the "right" thing. On every side he is confronted with morally questionable, yet obviously easy escapes from his current trials. His story echoes that of the biblical Job, and I couldn't wait to see if Larry had a breaking point, or if he'd be able to overcome his adversity.
Jenni: But the movie's not all doom-and-gloom. In fact, I laughed my ass off following the story of Larry's teenage stoner son as he prepared for his bar mitzvah. And the best part of the movie had to be Sy Ableman (Fred Melamed), who was the man having an affair with Larry's wife. His character was such a haughty, super-intellectual snob, and he totally stole every scene that he was in.
Brandon: I wish I could be as cool as Sy Ableman. Someday, maybe....
Jenni: Keep working on that. While you do that, I'll be recommending this movie to all of my friends. It's definitely the best movie that we've seen in a long while, and I'm really disappointed that it didn't receive more attention when it was in theaters last fall.
Brandon: Yeah, it wasn't in any of the multiplexes in our area, but I can see how such a character-driven drama wouldn't appeal to the general movie-going public. Regardless, I also give my hearty recommendation to this awesome film. And with that, the snobs are out. Peace!
You can watch the trailer for A Serious Man here.
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