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A Serious Man
2009
"A Serious Man" is the story of an ordinary man's search for clarity in a universe where Jefferson Airplane is on the radio and "F-Troop" is on TV. It is 1967, and Larry Gopnik, a physics professor at a quiet Midwestern university, has just been informed by his wife Judith that she is leaving him. She has fallen in love with .. Read more
| Starring | Adam Arkin, Richard Kind, George Wyner, Fyvush Finkel |
|---|---|
| Director | Joel Coen, Ethan Coen |
| Genres | Comedy |
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A Serious Man
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"A Serious Man" is the story of an ordinary man's search for clarity in a universe where Jefferson Airplane is on the radio and "F-Troop" is on TV. It is 1967, and Larry Gopnik, a physics professor at a quiet Midwestern university, has just been informed by his wife Judith that she is leaving him. She has fallen in love with one of his more pompous colleagues, Sy Ableman, who seems to her a more substantial person than the feckless Larry. Larry's unemployable brother Arthur is sleeping on the couch, his son Danny is a discipline problem and a shirker at Hebrew school, and his daughter Sarah is filching money from his wallet in order to save up for a nose job. While his wife and Sy Ableman blithely make new domestic arrangements, and his brother becomes more and more of a burden, an anonymous hostile letter-writer is trying to sabotage Larry's chances for tenure at the university. Also, a graduate student seems to be trying to bribe him for a passing grade while at the same time threatening to sue him for defamation. Plus, the beautiful woman next door torments him by sunbathing nude. Struggling for equilibrium, Larry seeks advice from three different rabbis. Can anyone help him cope with his afflictions and become a righteous person -- a mensch -- a serious man?
| Starring | Adam Arkin, Richard Kind, George Wyner, Fyvush Finkel, Katherine Borowitz |
|---|---|
| Director | Joel Coen, Ethan Coen |
| Studio | UNIVERSAL PICTURES |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 45 mins Blu-ray: 1 hr 45 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Comedy |
| Language | DVD: English Blu-ray: English |
| Released | DVD: unknown Blu-ray: unknown Production year: 2009 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews
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Towards the end of the Coen brothers The Big Lebowski, a black-clad German complains that a situation isnt... read more on Time Out
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Most helpful member's review
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14 out of 15 people found this review helpful
A modern day Job type story!
I'm not a fan of the Coen brothers: I have no idea how I have managed to see all their films but the only two that were remotely interesting for me was 'Fargo' and 'No country for old men'(and that was because of Javier Bardem's fantastic performance and nothing else).'A Serious Man' was an interesting look into the Jewish community in the 60's. It follows the life of Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) a Jewish professor of physics, and a family man.While his approach to life is not religiously fueled, he does seemed to be driven by the idea of being a Mensch
(someone of noble /admirable character or a serious man, hence the title of the movie).Life throws him a few non-stop tests to see how he measures up and this is what we see in the movie. Coen brothers are quirky in that they seem to focus on the minutiae of life: like the scene where the whole family is eating soup and slurping their soup(quite an irritating sound when one person does it but when it's the whole family slurping that brings the experience to a whole other level of annoyance!), Larry's brother's constant draining of his sebaceous cyst on his neck, etc,..... there are several of these examples in the movie, which really drives home the banality of everyday life.I don't know if Larry was supposed to be the portrayal of everyday man, but for me he came across as bit of a wimp, for someone who is supposed to be a Professor.(The part was however brilliantly portrayed by Stuhlbarg).He seemed to be overwhelmed by what life threw at him, becoming excessively concerned with being a good man who does the right thing. When life gives you lemons you make lemonade and not sit there deliberating what to do with the lemons! The only message I could muster from this rather pointless movie is that it is indeed outside our control what life throws at us, what matters most is what we do about our predicaments.There is a certain kind of invincibility if a person is able to transcend the trials of life (whatever they may be) and accept these trials with a gracious acceptance. Easier said then done, but none of us like it when life is not going 'our way', but perhaps that is the true test of what makes for a mensch or a serious man! I think I would have enjoyed it alot more if I were Jewish and understood several of their terms and words that were completely lost on me. -
Most recent members' review
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14 out of 15 people found this review helpful
A modern day Job type story!
I'm not a fan of the Coen brothers: I have no idea how I have managed to see all their films but the only two that were remotely interesting for me was 'Fargo' and 'No country for old men'(and that was because of Javier Bardem's fantastic performance and nothing else).'A Serious Man' was an interesting look into the Jewish community in the 60's. It follows the life of Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) a Jewish professor of physics, and a family man.While his approach to life is not religiously fueled, he does seemed to be driven by the idea of being a Mensch
(someone of noble /admirable character or a serious man, hence the title of the movie).Life throws him a few non-stop tests to see how he measures up and this is what we see in the movie. Coen brothers are quirky in that they seem to focus on the minutiae of life: like the scene where the whole family is eating soup and slurping their soup(quite an irritating sound when one person does it but when it's the whole family slurping that brings the experience to a whole other level of annoyance!), Larry's brother's constant draining of his sebaceous cyst on his neck, etc,..... there are several of these examples in the movie, which really drives home the banality of everyday life.I don't know if Larry was supposed to be the portrayal of everyday man, but for me he came across as bit of a wimp, for someone who is supposed to be a Professor.(The part was however brilliantly portrayed by Stuhlbarg).He seemed to be overwhelmed by what life threw at him, becoming excessively concerned with being a good man who does the right thing. When life gives you lemons you make lemonade and not sit there deliberating what to do with the lemons! The only message I could muster from this rather pointless movie is that it is indeed outside our control what life throws at us, what matters most is what we do about our predicaments.There is a certain kind of invincibility if a person is able to transcend the trials of life (whatever they may be) and accept these trials with a gracious acceptance. Easier said then done, but none of us like it when life is not going 'our way', but perhaps that is the true test of what makes for a mensch or a serious man! I think I would have enjoyed it alot more if I were Jewish and understood several of their terms and words that were completely lost on me. -
News and features
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The Hurt Locker makes first Oscars noise
- 20 Oct 2009
Kathryn Bigelow's hard-hitting war drama The Hurt Locker has emerged as an early Oscars favourite after picking up a string of nominations for the upcoming Gotham Independent Film Awards, one of the season's first big prizegivings. The movie will be up against Amreeka, Big Fan, The Maid and A Serious Man in the Best Feature category, while star Jeremy Renner will fight for the Breakthrough Actor prize and he and his castmates are up for Best Ensemble Performance. Meanwhile, director Bigelow... Read more
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Serious Man, A - BLU-RAY Version
"A Serious Man" is the story of an ordinary man's search for clarity in a universe where Jefferson Airplane is on the radio and "F-Troop" is on TV. It is 1967, and Larry Gopnik, a physics professor at a quiet Midwestern university, has just been informed by his wife Judith that she is leaving him. ...
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A Serious Man
"A Serious Man" is the story of an ordinary man's search for clarity in a universe where Jefferson Airplane is on the radio and "F-Troop" is on TV. It is 1967, and Larry Gopnik, a physics professor at a quiet Midwestern university, has just been informed by his wife Judith that she is leaving him. ...
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