Watch A Serious Man

A Serious Man is a darkly comedic film from the Coen Brothers that explores themes of faith, family, and personal identity. Set in the late 1960s in a Jewish community in suburban Minnesota, the movie follows the story of Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg), a physics professor whose seemingly stable life falls apart when his wife begins an affair with a friend and he is denied tenure at the university where he teaches.

As Larry tries to make sense of his crumbling world, he turns to a series of rabbis for guidance, each of whom offers him a different and often conflicting interpretation of his troubles. Meanwhile, his son Danny (Aaron Wolff) is obsessed with a Korean war film and sneaking hits off a joint before his bar mitzvah, and his daughter Sarah (Jessica McManus) is stealing money from his wallet in order to pay for a nose job.

The film is shot with a distinctive look that evokes the era in which it is set, with muted colors, vintage clothing, and period-perfect music. It is also filled with surreal touches that add to the sense of disorientation and dread that Larry feels as his life spins out of control. For example, the opening scene features a Yiddish folktale about a man who may or may not be a dybbuk, a malevolent spirit that possesses his body and causes him to behave recklessly.

As Larry's situation worsens, the film's dark humor becomes more pronounced, with scenes like a disastrous dinner party where his wife's lover (Fred Melamed) shows up uninvited, and a conversation with a neighbor who may or may not be part of a secret society. Throughout it all, Stuhlbarg gives a subtle and nuanced performance as a man who is trying to hold on to his dignity in the face of overwhelming chaos.

One of the film's key themes is the idea of uncertainty, both in terms of the mysteries of the universe that Larry teaches in his physics class and the unknowable nature of his personal problems. This is reflected in the character of Sy Ableman (Melamed), who Larry sees as a symbol of everything that is stable and predictable, even as he resents him for stealing his wife. Sy's catchphrase, "accept the mystery," takes on a philosophical weight as the film progresses, suggesting that some things may be beyond our understanding or control.

At the same time, A Serious Man raises questions about the role of religion in people's lives, particularly in times of crisis. Larry's search for answers from the rabbis he consults is both humorous and poignant, highlighting the different ways that faith can be interpreted and the challenges of finding meaning in a world that seems chaotic and arbitrary. This is underscored by a subplot involving Danny's bar mitzvah, which shows how the traditions and rituals of Judaism can be both comforting and oppressive, depending on one's perspective.

Overall, A Serious Man is a thought-provoking and visually striking film that blends humor and tragedy in a way that is uniquely Coen-esque. While it can be seen as a commentary on Jewish identity and the struggles of academia, it also taps into universal themes of uncertainty, loss, and the search for meaning in an unpredictable world.

A Serious Man is a 2009 comedy with a runtime of 1 hour and 46 minutes. It has received mostly positive reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 7.0 and a MetaScore of 88.