A Serious Man (2009)

Directors:

Ethan Coen
Joel Coen

Writers (WGA):

Joel Coen (written by) &
Ethan Coen (written by)

Release Date:

9 October 2009 (Denmark)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

A black comedy set in 1967 and centered on Larry Gopnik, a Midwestern professor who watches his life unravel when his wife prepares to leave him because his inept brother won't move out of the house. |

Plot Keywords:

Black Comedy | 1967 | Professor | Telephone Call | Rabbi

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 3 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Michael Stuhlbarg	...	Larry Gopnik
Richard Kind	...	Uncle Arthur
Fred Melamed	...	Sy Ableman
Sari Lennick	...	Judith Gopnik
Aaron Wolff	...	Danny Gopnik
Jessica McManus	...	Sarah Gopnik
Peter Breitmayer	...	Mr. Brandt
Brent Braunschweig	...	Mitch Brandt
David Kang	...	Clive Park
Benjy Portnoe	...	Danny's Reefer Buddy (as Bejamin Portnoe)
Jack Swiler	...	Boy on Bus
Andrew S. Lentz	...	Cursing Boy on Bus
Jon Kaminski Jr.	...	Mike Fagle
Ari Hoptman	...	Arlen Finkle
Alan Mandell	...	Rabbi Marshak

MPAA:

Rated R for language, some sexuality/nudity and brief violence.

Runtime:

105 min | Canada:105 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

USA | UK | France

Language:

English | Yiddish | Hebrew

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #45447) | Denmark:11 | UK:15 | Canada:G (Québec) | Australia:M | Canada:PG (British Columbia) | Ireland:15A | Canada:14A (Alberta/Manitoba/Ontario) | Iceland:12 | Finland:K-11

Filming Locations:

Bloomington, Minnesota, USA

Company:

Mike Zoss Productions

Trivia:

The voice of Dick Dutton, the Columbia Record Club employee who harasses Larry on the phone, is supplied by actor Warren Keith. This is the second time he has appeared in a Coen Brothers film playing a character heard only on the phone. He also supplies the voice of Reilly Diefenbach, the GMAC finance officer who calls Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo (1996).

Goofs:

Anachronisms: A Columbia Record Club representative informs Larry Gopnik that he received a copy of the Santana album "Abraxas". That album was released in 1970, three years after the movie was set.

Quotes:

Larry Gopnik: I feel like the carpet's been yanked out from under me.

Movie Connections:

Features "F Troop" (1965)

A Serious Film

You might have to be a believer (Jewish or Christian) to like this film, although some secular (at least Midwestern) Jews and others may find it worthwhile for the period details. It is a modern version of the book of Job, which--of course you remember--contains a prologue in which God and Satan bet on whether Job will remain faithful and Satan then strikes down Job's flocks, children, and health; a series of speeches by three 'comforters' with Job's responses; a speech by 'Elihu' who is unhappy with the advice of the three comforters; the Lord himself answering Job directly out of the whirlwind ('who is this who darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?; where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?'); a final submissive speech by Job ('I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee, wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes'); and an epilogue in which Job receives more flocks and children than he had before....

The book and the film address what (Christian, at least) theologians call 'theodicy', or how bad things can happen in the world when God, who supposedly controls everything, is supposedly good. For nonbelievers (if you have any interest in the subject), the best way to think of this is perhaps to ask yourself whether the universe (the 'Creation') is on balance a good thing ('and God saw that it was good....'). If so, then perhaps we have an obligation to live moral lives and (as Jews and Christians think of it) to follow God's law. If not, then perhaps it's every man for himself and the Devil take the hindmost....

If you like this film, you really need to see it twice. But without giving anything away, if you see it once, be careful to pay attention to (i) the bribe that, like Schroedinger's cat, is alive and dead at the same time and (ii) the 'voice from the whirlwind' (thanks to Grace Slick) at the end. This is a great film.