RSS 2.0 FeedNovember 4, 2009, Film
"A Serious Man" should not be taken seriously
Larry wants to think of himself as a serious man, however, he cannot figure out what God is trying to tell him as a myriad of bad things continue happening to him. So he goes through a trio of rabbis in search of guidance but to no avail. His son's pot-hazed Bar Mitzvah provides a brief glimmer of hope to a better tomorrow but nothing is easy, or good in Larry's world.
One hundred years from now, assuming that the Earth hasn't turned into a blob of warm butter thanks to global warming, cinema students will be studying the cinematic works of Ethan and Joel Coen. However, their instructors will not be including A Serious Man in the class curriculum.
After a brief, extremely strange visit to a possible 19th century Jewish village in Poland, A Serious Man takes us on a journey to 1967 and to an immaculate Midwestern neighborhood populated almost entirely by Jewish families. The idyllic setting is the home of Larry Gopnik (2005 Tony Award nominee Michael Stuhlbarg), a physics professor at a local university.
So with a well-paying job, nice home, wife and two kids you would think everything was great in Larry's world. Wrong. The lowlights, just to name a few, include Larry's wife wanting a ritual divorce so she can marry a widower; a lack of respect from his teenage children; a foreign exchange student who tries to bribe him; and his Uncle Arthur (Richard Kind) who barely leaves the house and yet gets in trouble with the law. Oh, and Larry also faces a mountain of legal bills.
Larry wants to think of himself as a serious man, however, he cannot figure out what God is trying to tell him as a myriad of bad things continue happening to him. So he goes through a trio of rabbis in search of guidance but to no avail. His son's pot-hazed Bar Mitzvah provides a brief glimmer of hope to a better tomorrow but nothing is easy, or good in Larry's world.
Burn After Reading ... No Country for Old Men ... O Brother, Where Art Thou? ... The Big Lebowski ... Fargo ... Raising Arizona ... They are all Coen Brother classics that involve captivating drama or dark comedy. A Serious Man tries too hard to be both and fails, especially on the humor side which relies heavily upon Jewish customs and language for material.
Larry is like a modern day Job and is seemingly tested every day by God. However, his trials and tribulations become repressive to watch as they stack up. As such, the humor is lost. Furthermore, while Job was blessed by God and lived 140 years, the Coen Brothers put a different spin on it, which results in something disappointingly lackluster.
Stuhlbarg does deliver an extremely solid performance as a man whose psyche becomes frayed. He gives Larry a kind of everyman quality that the audience can identify with. The other characters, though, are borderline stereotypes that are uninteresting to watch.
Much like how no one can remember every John Ford film, no one will remember this Coen effort. Hopefully.
On a letter grade scale from A being excellent to F for failing, A Serious Man receives a C-.
A Serious Man is rated R and has a running time of 105 minutes.
Now showing through December 10 @
Tivoli Cinemas
Westport Manor Square, 4050 Pennsylvania, KCMO
Visit www.tivolikc.com or call 913-383-7756 for showtimes.
Check run dates
Glenwood Arts
9575 Metcalf
Overland Park
Visit www.fineartsgroup.com or call 913-642-4404 for more information.
Indie Film Editor
Michael D. Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts in history at College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri followed by a Master of Arts in history at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Inspired by such critics as Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, Michael started reviewing films in 1992 for College of the Ozarks's student-run newspaper. After returning to the Kansas City area in 1994, he continued film reviewing by writing for the Cass County Democrat Missourian in Harrisonville.
In 2000 Michael joined Sun Publications in Overland Park, Kansas where he served as its film critic and Arts and Entertainment Editor. During his tenure there, he was also the film critic for the "Fine Arts Radio Hour" and "Celebrity Scoop" radio shows on KXTR. After leaving the Sun in late 2002, he became the A&E writer for the Olathe News in Olathe, Kansas. He also worked as a freelance writer for The Squire in Leawood, Showcase Publishing in Lake Ozark, Missouri and the Kansas City Star.
Michael is currently a member of the Kansas City Film Critics Circle, a professional film critic organization established in 1966 by the late Dr. James Loutzenhiser.
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