A Serious Man (2009)

     Now in their fifties, Joel and Ethan Coen have ventured through their career with high hopes, pumping out a movie a year for the past three years, and earning many an Oscar. Two years ago, No Country for Old Men won them the awards for best picture, best director(s) and best screenplay. Now, with A Serious Man, their up for it again, best picture and best screenplay.

     Inspired both by the book of Job and their personal lives growing up in a Jewish household, A Serious Man is a bold, intriguing look at the many misfortunes of Larry Gopnik (played by Michael Stuhlbarg), professor of physics at a Jewish college and father of two. His wife is leaving him, his children are "a mystery" to him, and his brother is in trouble with the law. To top it off, his neighbor seems to dislike him, one of his students bribes him for a good grade, and his other neighbor's husband is seemly never there - just one more temptation to let his life slip away. Still, he continually finds himself questioning why God would be doing all these things to him and maintains his faith.
     The film truly is quite dark, implying that there is not much that can go right for this man. Just as God allowed the devil to toy with Job, Larry cannot see God helping him through this rough period of life, and offers him no answers. He often has dreams that seem to give him an answer to his problems, then show him exactly why that's a bad solution. Oddly enough, the films title is first seen relating to his wife's lover, Sy Ableman as he calls himself "a serious man." Larry, when attempting to call himself such a person, finds he cannot do it, but instead claims "I've tried to be a serious man." (just an odd little tidbit I found interesting I guess.)
    Despite its dark nature, the film is rather comical, Michael Stuhlbarg's acting reminiscent of Jason Bateman as Michael Bluth from Arrested Development. It is a quirky "am I the only one who sees the lunacy of this situation" kind of acting, and he pulls it off quite well. The other acting in the film is equally impressive, something that probably comes from the impeccable ability of the Coen's to create an ensemble of characters unlike anything else, yet somehow entirely familiar.
     Story and acting aside, the film is a visually stunning one, editing and cinematography alike. Although each shot feels quite standard, there's something about them and the way their put together that adds new meaning to the story and the film as a whole. The choice of music and the new compositions by Carter Burwell flow into the dark theme of the movie that is both empathetic and anempathetic (music that seems to be as haunting as the image and story, and music that is so entirely oppositional that it enhances what we feel about what we are seeing).
     Really it is a rather mysterious and challenging film. The ending is dark and open-ended (especially for the son Danny). Questions are raised about why these terrible things happen to this man, but in the end I believe the following quote sums it up quite nicely (even though his dreams might try to tell him otherwise (is Larry just trying to be ignorant?)):

"The Uncertainty Principle: It proves we can't ever really know what's going on." -Larry Gobnik