The new Coen brothers film, A Serious Man, centers around a Jewish physics professor and father of two, whose happy family life (in a suburban neighborhood in Minnesota in the 1960s) descends into moral crisis when his wife tells him she wants a ghet, a Jewish religious divorce. Larry Gopnik (played wonderfully by a deadpan Michael Stuhlbarg) goes from rabbi to rabbi for advice and counseling in a community of wacky characters. Seeking an appointment with Rabbi Nachter who’s unavailable, Larry has no choice but to meet with the uninspiring junior rabbi Ginzler, who wraps up the session by gazing out the window and telling his client, dreamily, “Things aren’t so bad, Larry — look at the parking lot! Just look at that parking lot…” Meanwhile, at the university, Larry is being told by a colleague, in the nicest possible way, that his academic career is at stake, while also being bribed by Korean student Clive — possibly the star of this movie for me — who will not accept his F. “What do you propose?” asks Larry. “Passing grade,” replies an expressionless Clive. Undeterred by Larry’s refusal, Clive asks to retake the test. Larry: “But that wouldn’t be fair to the other students, would it.” Clive: “Secret test…hush hush.” The plot is less important in this film than the colorful characters we encounter through the impassive Larry. A Serious Man moves at a slow pace, perhaps slightly too slowly in its last third, and the nightmare scenes would have been far more effective if they had been portrayed as actual events. Nevertheless, this is a very enjoyable black comedy.
A Serious Man
