A Serious Man (Movie Review)

Movie Review
A Serious Man
2009
Starring: Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Fred Melamed
Directed by: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

I’m sure there’s a good film buried somewhere in the idea behind A Serious Man but it seems to have trouble surfacing. You can’t fault the Coen brothers for not trying as the film smacks of too much effort. The problem is that it feels like it was made to win awards rather than trying to tell a good story. It does have an interesting message about why bad things happen to upstanding people. My question for this film is why did it waste nearly two hours of my life?

Larry Gopnik’s life is in shambles. His wife wants a divorce after she admits to an affair that’s been having with a friend of the family for a while, although she assures him that there hasn’t been any hanky-panky. His kids aren’t so great either as his daughter is stealing from his wallet and his son calls him anywhere any time the TV goes on the fritz. Professionally, he’s stressed out. He’s on the verge of obtaining tenure at the college he’s teaching at, although a Korean student has created a stir by offering him a bribe so that he can receive a better grade.

Things come crashing down on Larry. He seeks solace from his Jewish spiritual leaders but they are no help. He works his way up the hierarchy of the leaders of the community for advice but finds each person’s words of wisdom more nonsensical than the previous person. And it keeps piling up: his wife’s boyfriend is killed in a car crash and his wife wants him to pay for the funeral, his ailing brother is first being looked at for gambling and then is arrested for solicitation for sodomy, and someone is sending anonymous letters to the tenure committee of his college saying that he’s not all that great an upstanding person. The problem for Larry is that he is an upstanding person. He refused to take the bribe, he tries to take care of his family as best as possible even though his wife is taking advantage of him, and he’ll do anything to help out his brother. As his life keeps spiralling out of control, he questions more and more how he got into this situation and whether his faith has failed him.

I find it offensive when a film feels like it’s going out its way to try to win awards. This film is well crafted in a technical sense. The acting is fine, the dialogue is well delivered, and the cinematography is stellar. However, there’s not much to the movie. The story is flimsy. It seems like the world of this movie is made up of irrational characters. There isn’t much to the narrative in that you have no idea where the movie is headed. The ending is just as baffling. The audience shouldn’t feel a need to consult film reviews or Wikipedia to figure out parts of the movie. Films geared towards people with a film background bring up a debate on what makes a film good: if a large majority of the population can’t get into it, then is it really a good movie even though it’s critically acclaimed?

Another issue with the movie is the main character. It’s not that he’s totally unlikable but the filmmakers do not give him all that many endearing characteristics. Making him a pathetic loser doesn’t make him likeable. It gets to a point where people are not laughing with him—they’re laughing at him—and then just rolling their eyes. Considering the deep meaning this film is supposed to resonate to the audience through the main character, it doesn’t help anything that he’s a social klutz. It gets to a point where you wonder how he got to where he’s at in life in the first place.

It’s not all bad though. The film does have deep meaning that anyone can take away from it. Even though the film has predominately Jewish themes, you don’t have to be Jewish to understand the film’s message. It really does poke some thought-provoking questions about being a good person and where one’s faith comes into play with regards to one’s actions. It does make for an interesting film in the sense in that you could watch it with a couple of people and have several long and deep discussions about some of the film’s themes.

I’ve been having a tough time trying to figure out how I feel about A Serious Man. The Coen brothers were really ambitious with this movie. However, the movie reeks of a stench that comes from the feeling that (the winning of) awards were the reason why this film was made and why it was made the way it was. The average person will probably not understand all of it (or any of it). Film students, critics and professionals will most likely love it. Perhaps Jewish people who have trouble reconciling their cultural community while the Christian culture-at-large may enjoy it (although probably for different reasons). Personally, I can’t say it was bad but I wouldn’t watch it again or recommend anyone to do so.

☆☆