Serious Men?

So they often seem. In spite of their signature quirkiness, which permeates all of their films, Joel and Ethan Coen jump so headlong into every genre, every time period, every world as if they are making some philosophical statement about them. This might just be the byproduct of exceptional filmmaking. They might just like these worlds, and want to create within them. Like David Lynch, they often leave us with feelings and ideas which are best left open for interpretation instead of explanation. In might be helpful to keep this in mind when viewing their latest offering, 'A Serious Man'. It might be just a comedy of a man's world falling apart, but it's set amongst a community of people so deeply rooted in the Jewish faith that we can't help feeling there's something to be said here about religion and the idea of answers to the big questions we all ask from time to time. Maybe that's just over-reaching though. Maybe not.

The setting is an baby-boomer, treeless suburb, 1967. Our protagonist, Larry, seems to be the hapless embodiment of the old world which is quickly disappearing. His kids barely register him anymore, his job is hanging by a thread, and his wife is leaving him for the family rabbi. He's forced from his home and into a motel, which has to share with his inept brother (a phenomenal and always welcome Richard Kind). Throughout it all, he goes from rabbi to rabbi in search of answers for why his life could fall apart so suddenly and completely. Why him? Why now? What does it all mean in relation to the Jewish faith he's been so loyal to?

There's enough here to pick apart and decipher, including the Coen's most sudden in a career of sudden endings. But again, this is all something for us to consider, not for them to explain. In spite of any philosophical implications, this is very much un film de Coen. Kids swear, people say the darndest things and wear funny clothes, and there's the occasional, extreme and sudden violence. The sets and costumes never look anything less than that hilarious time when everyone dressed like squares and furniture was designed for torture. Its all 'Mad Men' for the less than beautiful. Look out for a wonderful montage set to Hendrix's 'Machine Gun'. Look out for a (hopefully) career-turning performance from Michael Stuhlbarg as Larry. Look out constantly. There isn't too much here that won't impress you.