A Serious Man (2009)

Directors:

Ethan Coen
Joel Coen

Writers (WGA):

Joel Coen (written by) &
Ethan Coen (written by)

Release Date:

9 October 2009 (Denmark)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

A black comedy set in 1967 and centered on Larry Gopnik, a Midwestern professor who watches his life unravel when his wife prepares to leave him because his inept brother won't move out of the house. |

Plot Keywords:

Professor | 1967 | Black Comedy | Hebrew | Fake Female Frontal Nudity

Awards:

1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Michael Stuhlbarg	...	Larry Gopnik
Richard Kind	...	Uncle Arthur
Fred Melamed	...	Sy Ableman
Sari Lennick	...	Judith Gopnik
Aaron Wolff	...	Danny Gopnik
Jessica McManus	...	Sarah Gopnik
Peter Breitmayer	...	Mr. Brandt
Brent Braunschweig	...	Mitch Brandt
David Kang	...	Clive Park
Benjy Portnoe	...	Danny's Reefer Buddy (as Bejamin Portnoe)
Jack Swiler	...	Boy on Bus
Andrew S. Lentz	...	Cursing Boy on Bus
Jon Kaminski Jr.	...	Mike Fagle
Ari Hoptman	...	Arlen Finkle
Alan Mandell	...	Rabbi Marshak

MPAA:

Rated R for language, some sexuality/nudity and brief violence.

Runtime:

105 min | Canada:105 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

USA | UK | France

Language:

English | Yiddish | Hebrew

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #45447) | Denmark:11 | UK:15 | Canada:G (Québec) | Australia:M | Canada:PG (British Columbia) | Ireland:15A | Canada:14A (Alberta/Manitoba/Ontario) | Iceland:12 | Finland:K-11

Filming Locations:

Bloomington, Minnesota, USA

Company:

Mike Zoss Productions

Trivia:

Based on the Columbia House selections mentioned (Santana's "Abraxis" and CCR's "Cosmo's Factory") the film is set in 1970, not 1967 as most reviews state. (CCR music also plays a prominent role in the Coen's The Big Lebowski (1998).)

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Rabbi Marshak tells Danny "When the truth is found to be lies, and all the hope within you dies." The lyric to the song is actually "...all the joy within your dies"

Quotes:

Sy Ableman: I'm a serious man, Larry.

Movie Connections:

Features "F Troop" (1965)

Life As a Paradox

...or is that a pair of docs? This is a difficult movie to capture in a review, so much so, that as a Coen brothers fan I was mislead a bit by what I read before seeing it.

Ebert and such had prepared me for a drama. I suppose it is that too, but much more, A Serious Man is filled with warmth and humor and insight.

If your idea of a damn good film is plot and resolution, you've come to the wrong temple. If you enjoy a film that grabs your soul and wakes you in the middle of the night with wonder, ah, then this one is for you.

I can see the reviewers paradox. I don't want to reveal one scene, so I'll try it from the backside, so to speak.

It's about a family man entering one of those swirling vortexes that life can throw at you from time to time where so many problems come at once that it becomes overwhelming.

The film is beautifully framed by a parable in Yiddish, the traditions of modern Judaism and the wisdom of three rabbis.

But you don't have to be Jewish. Giggle. Just alive.

By the time the advice and thoughts of the aging, third rabbi are slowly revealed, with their marvelous storytelling, the Coens will have given you such insight that you will not only understand the rabbi's wisdom, you will be able to know the exact words he is saying as he says them.

Now that's a true gift from any filmmaker.

Is this their cosmic joke? Could be.

We traveled almost an hour to see it and it is well worthwhile, whatever your theater charges for tickets, even if they're free, as ours were.