Movie Review -- A Serious Man ****

As I disappeared from the blogging world (again) a few months back, I haven't taken the time to review the many movies I've been able to see. I considered just letting them go -- letting my blurbs on Facebook stand as my reviews.

But, then I thought: where's the fun in that?

So, over the next several days, I'm going to write reviews for a number of movies. You may get sick of it. In fact, I may be flattering myself that anyone will be reading these at all. But, what are you gonna do?

I'll start with what is, to date, my favorite movie of the year. A Serious Man is the latest opus from the Coen Brothers. I won't go into a discussion about how much I love the Coen Brothers...you've likely heard it before. I just want to let it be known that I came at this movie with an inherent bias in favor of all things Coen.

But, I don't really think that affected my opinion too much here. Coens or no Coens, A Serious Man is just a great movie. It is, unlike some of their movies, stringent and coherent in its tone and narrative. And, also like many of their other movies, nearly flawless in its execution. Put simply, this is Fargo or No Country For Old Men level of Coen...not The Ladykillers.

The movie tells the story of one Larry Gopnik, a Jewish physics professor who is both very likable and pretty unremarkable...and that's kind of the point. He is extremely ordinary, yet things, mostly bad things, continue to happen to him. In and of themselves, none of the things that happen to him are that extraordinary -- certainly not worth making a movie about. But, collectively, he faces struggles that seem almost Job-like or Kafkaesque.

For starters, his wife leaves him for an older, odder, and even more boring man -- Sy Ableman is his name. She then proceeds to drain all his income away. Then, a Korean student in his physics class may be trying to blackmail (or bribe...we're not sure which) him for a higher grade. He's up for tenure, and it's unclear how what his prospects are. His goy neighbor appears to be slowly and purposefully encroaching on his property. He has a mooch of a brother who has suddenly gotten sideways with the law. And, to top it all off, his son has run up a sizable debt with the Columbia House Record Company.

Unable to understand why all this is happening to him, he turns to his religious leaders for guidance. He does this, sadly, at the suggestion of a family friend who insists that, because they're Jews, they have a rich history to guide them through life's problems. This friend happens to be in leg braces, hinting at having experienced suffering beyond anything Larry's gone through. At least he has his health...or does he?

The movie is divided between visits to three rabbis. The first, who refers to himself as "the Junior Rabbi" (and who is played by the hilarious Simon Helberg from Big Bang Theory) can only ramble about perspective and how even a parking lot can be beautiful if you look at it correctly. This, of course, is the same simplistic garbage we all here during difficult times from people who don't know anything about what we're going through. Obviously, Larry will need more help.

Sadly, he doesn't get it from "the Senior Rabbi" either. Without spoiling any details (because it's hilarious), I'll just say that this more experienced clergyman hints at being able to explain the entire universe by relating the most mysterious series of events that happened to another member of his congregation, only to blithely sets aside the mystery in favor of a non-answer answer. Again, Larry is rebuffed in his effort to understand why all this is happening to him.

Even though I want to, I don't want to get into what contributions the third Rabbi, who on appearance, looks like he must understand everything. I'll just say that every scene featuring the third rabbi is hilarious.

What makes Larry's inability to understand the universe via a spiritual route even more frustrating is that, as a physicist, he should be able to at least understand it on a physical level. Yet, he admits early on that he really only understands the math and, in a dream sequence, informs his class that, even if they don't understand the uncertainty principle (in the inherently indecipherable way he explains it), they'll still be responsible for it on the midterm. Indeed, this is a brief peek into life itself, wherein we understand very little of what's put in front of us, but we're not excused from having to live through it anyway.

A common theme in the Coen's work is the notion that everything is meaningless and that events are ultimately beyond our control. While I don't agree with this ideology, I relate to it. Indeed, like Larry, I have, throughout my life, been surrounded in a faith tradition that permeates in every aspect of life and culture. Both Judaism and Mormonism have strict codes of morality and piety, yet, in both cases, it is not these codes that bring contentment and understanding. With this movie, the Coens appear to be arguing that this lack of results is proof that life is meaningless. I would simply argue that faith requires an internal understanding of principles before anything external can have any meaning. But, in this case, it is not I that is making the movie.

Anyway, I can go and on about this movie. The symbolism, the parallel narratives, and the multitude of damned funny moments. But, I'll wrap it up.

Simply put, A Serious Man is a masterpiece. It's as close to perfect as movies get. Anyone interested should see it twice...and then think about it for a while before you reach a conclusion. You won't regret it.