A Serious Man

A Serious Man is about Larry Gopnik, a genial man living in 1960's suburban Minnesota. Despite his well intentions and good nature, everything in his life seems to be going wrong. Larry's wife announces that she wants a divorce; she has taken up with a family friend. His children are indifferent to him and his feckless brother (and his cyst) has moved in. Larry is up for tenure at the college where he teaches physics, but the committee is receiving disturbing letters questioning his ethics and a failing student bribes him for a passing grade, then threatens to sue him for not accepting the bribe. He seeks answers to all the troubles in his life from a series of rabbis, who offer no help at all. Larry begins to have increasingly bizarre dreams (where he's either having sex with his comely female neighbor or being shot by his redneck male neighbor) as his life begins to spiral out of control.

Michael Stuhlbarg is amazing as Larry. "Likeable loser" isn't the right term for Larry, as, despite his constant petty and funny misfortunes, he's not a loser. Stuhlbarg plays him as a good, earnest, decent man. And you can't help but feel for this guy. He's faithful, loyal, honest, decent and really tries to be the best husband, father, neighbor, teacher, despite the lack of reciprocation from others. Absurd and yet rational, A Serious Man is a film I've come to like more after I've seen it than when I was actually watching it. I don't entirely understand it, but it's making me think a whole lot. (8/10)

Interested parties should read Jim Emerson's excellent analysis of the film, A Serious Man: Kafka in Minneapolis.