A Serious Man

The 14th feature film from director-screenwriters Joel and Ethan Coen is perhaps best described as a philosophical meditation on their insular Midwestern upbringing—with a historical prologue involving a Yiddish-speaking couple in a Polish shtetl visited by someone who may be a dybbuk (a malicious, departed soul possessing the body of a living person). Flash forward to 1967 in suburban Minneapolis, where a Jewish physics professor, Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg), is up for tenure. But poor Larry: his stoner son (Aaron Wolff) is about to have his bar mitzvah; his unstable, misanthropic brother (Richard Kind) monopolizes the bathroom, infuriating his teenage daughter (Jessica McManus); and his deer-hunting, anti-Semitic neighbors appear to be encroaching on his property. Further complications arise when an envelope stuffed with cash appears on Larry's desk—seemingly a bribe from a student who flunked an exam—and anonymous letters denigrating Larry's character are sent to the tenure committee. Adding to his troubles, his shrewish wife (Sari Lennick) confesses she's in love with a pompous widower (Fred Melamed), propelling Larry to seek refuge in the marijuana den of a seductive neighbor (Amy Landecker). Like a modern-day Job, Larry dutifully visits a trio of rabbis, only to realize, “It's not always easy, deciphering what God is trying to tell you”—a dismaying realization for a man who deals with mathematical certainties. While the Coens' dialogue is alternately sharp and glib, the serio-comedic characters are caricatures, and the brothers' point about cosmic injustice remains elusive, resulting in a bleak, ambivalent, angst-filled film about adversity. Still, this Best Picture nominee is recommended, overall. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a “Becoming Serious” behind-the-scenes featurette with the cast and crew, including filmmakers Ethan and Joel Coen (17 min.), a “Creating 1967” location featurette (14 min.), a “Hebrew and Yiddish for Goys” vocabulary segment (2 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray version is the BD-Live function. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a depressing black comedy (of sorts).] (S. Granger)