Film Reviews

A Serious Man

• Rating:
• Director: Joel and Ethan Coen.
• Starring: Michael Stuhlbarg, Sari Lennick, Richard Kind, Aaron Wolff.
• Details: US/UK/France / 105mins (15A).

The Coen Brothers followed up the heavyweight No Country For Old Men with the lightweight (and, if we're honest, throwaway) Burn After Reading; at first glance it seems that A Serious Man fits perfectly between the two - a heady brew of humour and tragedy - but take a step back and there's evidence that this is their angriest film to date. Wimpy Larry Gopnik (Stuhlbarg) has always played by the rules. A physics professor in a 1967 high school, Larry is on the verge of tenure but the committee have been receiving anonymous letters arguing against his appointment and a disgruntled student is suing him for defamation of character. The bad news doesn't stop there: His wife Judith (Lennick) is leaving him for his friend and he's expected to accept it amicably and move out, leaving his pot-smoking son Danny (Wolff) and thieving teenage daughter Sarah (Jessica McManus) behind. His aggressive redneck neighbour is encroaching on his property and his live-in brother (Kind) is of no use, spending most of his time hogging the bathroom draining his cyst. Larry wants answers - why is this happening to him? "I haven't done anything," is his typical childish protest - but none are forthcoming. This Job-like tale is the Coen's silent scream, lashing out at an unjust world run by a cold, distant God. Here's a good man who has done everything right his whole life and the rug has been pulled from underneath him. Does he deserve this? No. Is this fair? No. Is this life? Most certainly. Why is it like this? Who knows? Larry turns to his spiritual leaders, but they're no help. The first Rabbi tells him he's seeking out the bad in life, and that God could be found in the smallest of things if one was prepared to look - like a parking lot. The second Rabbi attempts to help with a parable, which even the Rabbi doesn't understand. The third Rabbi won't see him. There's a lot of unneeded stuff here: the film opens with a ten minute prologue that even the Coens have confessed have nothing to do with what follows, the Rabbi's parable is a distraction and Richard Kind's character doesn't bring anything to the table. What is needed is an actor to play feeble but hint at the rage growing under the surface, a feeling that's alien to him. "Is it right to complain?" he asks at one point. Michael Stuhlbarg is perfect in this. He's not alone, as a bevy of character actors line up to offer great support. A Serious Man raises many philosophical questions (Why are we here? What's it all about? Etc) but doesn't find any answers. Maybe it has something to do with Jefferson Airplane. Grace Slick's lyrics pop up every now and then - even out the mouth of a Rabbi, whose sagely advice to Danny at bar mitzvah is: "When the truth is found to be lies and all the joy within you dies... What then?" Danny doesn't know. Neither does the Rabbi. Or the Coens. And still the good man continues to get shafted. Maybe that's why they're so angry.

Review by Gavin Burke