A Serious Man (2009)
November 25, 2018 1:20 AM - Subscribe
A black comedy-drama film written, produced, edited and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Set in 1967, the film stars Michael Stuhlbarg as a Minnesota Jewish man whose life crumbles both professionally and personally, leading him to questions about his faith.
No 1 on this recent "Definitive Ranking of the Coen Bros. Movies", (and I concur). Metafilter discussion.
Sy Ableman
These are the members of the Airplane!
No 1 on this recent "Definitive Ranking of the Coen Bros. Movies", (and I concur). Metafilter discussion.
Sy Ableman
These are the members of the Airplane!
I guess I dissent? I thought it was okay, it wasn't my favorite Coen Bros movie.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:43 PM on November 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Chrysostom at 7:43 PM on November 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
Things aren't so bad! Look at the parking lot, Larry!
posted by davejh at 9:40 PM on November 25, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by davejh at 9:40 PM on November 25, 2018 [3 favorites]
The depiction of Hebrew school is so very bang on that it gives me the willies. I love this film.
SHEKET!
posted by wellred at 9:43 AM on November 26, 2018 [3 favorites]
SHEKET!
posted by wellred at 9:43 AM on November 26, 2018 [3 favorites]
I'm from St. Louis Park, and, am, in fact, there right now. I grew up in the world of this film and was irritated it was as fantastic and unlike the actual St. Louis Park as it was.
It's grown on me. The Goys Teeth is, indeed, sublime, and the first of two rabbis (the other in Hail Caesar) who simply does not give a shit about non-Jews, which feels like the most legitimiately Jewish thing the Coen have ever put in a film.
posted by maxsparber at 2:49 PM on November 26, 2018 [2 favorites]
It's grown on me. The Goys Teeth is, indeed, sublime, and the first of two rabbis (the other in Hail Caesar) who simply does not give a shit about non-Jews, which feels like the most legitimiately Jewish thing the Coen have ever put in a film.
posted by maxsparber at 2:49 PM on November 26, 2018 [2 favorites]
It felt to me (a non-Jew) both very Jewish and at the same time, non Coen Brothers-y? Much more slice of life.
posted by Chrysostom at 3:17 PM on November 26, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Chrysostom at 3:17 PM on November 26, 2018 [1 favorite]
There is so much mysticism in the film I feel like it's very Coen Brothers-y. Though tbh I found Llewyn Davis even more Jewish than Serious Man.
posted by wellred at 5:58 AM on November 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by wellred at 5:58 AM on November 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
Sy Ableman?
posted by gauche at 10:08 AM on November 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by gauche at 10:08 AM on November 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
I'm not Jewish and therefore will never participate in a Bar Mitzvah, but I have been stoned, and boy does the Bar Mitzvah scene ever nail the vibe of having gotten stoned for an event you probably should have stayed sober for.
posted by The Card Cheat at 5:08 PM on November 28, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 5:08 PM on November 28, 2018 [6 favorites]
My Dad: "I don't get it."
Me: "I don't think Larry gets it either."
My Mom: "Maybe that's the point?"
All of us: "Huh..."
We all wound up deciding we liked it, but none of us have managed to articulate why.
posted by Phobos the Space Potato at 5:53 PM on November 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
Me: "I don't think Larry gets it either."
My Mom: "Maybe that's the point?"
All of us: "Huh..."
We all wound up deciding we liked it, but none of us have managed to articulate why.
posted by Phobos the Space Potato at 5:53 PM on November 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
The finale's smash cut to a pop song over the closing credits outdoes their ending to Blood Simple, and that's just one of my most favorite things about this movie.
posted by Doktor Zed at 3:01 AM on November 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Doktor Zed at 3:01 AM on November 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
I feel for everyone in this movie, all having horrible moments in their awkward lives. This is one of my favourites.
posted by h00py at 6:53 AM on November 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by h00py at 6:53 AM on November 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
I'm an alumnus of Saint Olaf College in Minnesota, where the big blackboard scene was filmed in the science building.
posted by larrybob at 10:11 AM on December 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by larrybob at 10:11 AM on December 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
We all wound up deciding we liked it, but none of us have managed to articulate why.
As soon as I finished this movie, I said out loud "What the hell was that?" but the next day, I find I like it more. Fate? Probability with a vengeance? Because there's something about Larry that really pisses God off? I dunno, I feel like it speaks to my adult concerns. And OH, the junior rabbi scene!!! Resonated with me hard. I think I went into this movie expecting the characters to develop, and it took me a long time to adjust to them being objects moved by larger forces; it might have been easier if I had gone into it with Job in mind. So yeah, this movie is growing on me. I like it, even if I have a hard time saying why.
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:49 PM on March 4, 2019
As soon as I finished this movie, I said out loud "What the hell was that?" but the next day, I find I like it more. Fate? Probability with a vengeance? Because there's something about Larry that really pisses God off? I dunno, I feel like it speaks to my adult concerns. And OH, the junior rabbi scene!!! Resonated with me hard. I think I went into this movie expecting the characters to develop, and it took me a long time to adjust to them being objects moved by larger forces; it might have been easier if I had gone into it with Job in mind. So yeah, this movie is growing on me. I like it, even if I have a hard time saying why.
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:49 PM on March 4, 2019
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posted by growabrain at 1:44 AM on November 25, 2018