Did you read Sean Nelson’s great review of A Serious Man, the new Coen Brothers movie?

A Serious Man plumbs depths even major Coen devotees might not have imagined were there. It’s not a departure, exactly—except in the way all their films are departures. It’s an expansion, a magnification, a breakthrough. Yes, like all their movies, it’s kind of a big joke, but a joke with the darkest punch line ever. The Coen brothers, who for 25 years have been called cold formalists with more interest in Steadicams and storyboards than in human characters, have made a movie about the twilight of the Jewish soul.

I saw A Serious Man last night, and I can’t stop thinking about it. I’ve watched the trailer a dozen times since I came home from the theater. Have you seen it? It’s one of the best trailers ever:

It’s an especially fitting trailer because every scene in the entire movie seems to be based on some sort of rhythm; either the scene is based around a song, or the cameras seem to be moving to an unheard beat. I’m a huge Coen Brothers fan (except, as Sean points out in his review, for The Ladykillers, which was a painful aberration), but this movie feels different than the standard Coen Brothers film. It has so many layers and emotions at play in every frame. It’s about faith (and not just religious faith, either: As commenter Guillaume smartly points out on Sean’s review, the movie has a lot to say about quantum mechanics, too) and love and hope and everything else that makes life worth living.

Watching A Serious Man, to me, was maybe the closest that a cinematic experience can ever get to reading a novel. It was so dense and honest and powerful. I recommend the hell out of this movie.

9 replies on “Seriously, Go See A Serious Man”

  2. GLAD SOMEONE GOT TO SEE IT BEFORE THE BANDWOGGLYZ SHOWED UP.

    BABY BELUGA, SWIMMIN IN DA SEE, BABY BELUGA, SOMEDAY YOU WILL SEE, BLUBBER IS FOR LAMPS, MEAT IS FOR TABLES, BABY BELUGA, DON’T GET CAUGHT BY ME.

  3. meh.

    Tries to hard to be the ultimate Coenesque movie…and sometimes, it was boring.

    Also, I really wanted the main character to go all Rambo on all the assholes that surrounded him…except for the sexy neighbor lady…she needs her own movie.

  4. What’s with the sudden emergence of quantum mechanics as leitmotif in movies? Heisenberg and entropy in Whatever Works, Schrodinger in A Serious Man. Not that I’m complaining, but why now?

  5. It’s all right. My review a couple weeks ago employed almost the same language (the whole joke/punchline metaphor). The big difference is that I didn’t find the joke all that meaningful or interesting, just the same old Coen bros. futile absurdism. Good performances from a stellar cast and great period details though.

  6. Also, the comment about it being the cloest experience to reading a novel is pure hyperbole. I have to wonder how many movies you’ve actually seen. It’s not even the most novelistic Coen Bros. movie.

  7. Also, the comment about it being the closest experience to reading a novel is pure hyperbole. It’s not even the most novelistic Coen bros. movie. Not to be a total snob, but how many films have your actually seen?

  8. Re-reading this review, I think that Paul wants to date this movie…

    I’m thrilled you had that experience, but I don’t get it…the movie didn’t seem very honest and there wasn’t much love and hope in it…maybe between the two brothers but there was NO relationship with the horrible wife and kids.
    It just seemed like the usual Coen snarkfest and their ultimate cinematic in joke…the most Hebraic movie ever made and the one with the easiest theme: It’s tough to be a Jew.

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