
Bloomington, Minnesota, 1967: Jewish physics lecturer Larry Gopnik is a serious and a very put-upon man. His daughter is stealing from him to save up for a nose job, his pot-head son, who gets stoned at his own bar-mitzvah, only wants him round to fix the TV aerial and his useless brother Arthur is an unwelcome house guest. But both Arthur and Larry get turfed out into a motel when Larry's wife Judy, who wants a divorce, moves her lover, Sy, into the house and even after Sy's... (Full plot summary below)
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Bloomington, Minnesota, 1967: Jewish physics lecturer Larry Gopnik is a serious and a very put-upon man. His daughter is stealing from him to save up for a nose job, his pot-head son, who gets stoned at his own bar-mitzvah, only wants him round to fix the TV aerial and his useless brother Arthur is an unwelcome house guest. But both Arthur and Larry get turfed out into a motel when Larry's wife Judy, who wants a divorce, moves her lover, Sy, into the house and even after Sy's death in a car crash they are still there. With lawyers' bills mounting for his divorce, Arthur's criminal court appearances and a land feud with a neighbour Larry is tempted to take the bribe offered by a student to give him an illegal exam pass mark. And the rabbis he visits for advice only dole out platitudes. Still God moves in mysterious - and not always pleasant - ways, as Larry and his family will find out.
Leave your thoughts about A Serious Man.
| Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranWriter-directors Joel and Ethan have seized the opportunity afforded by the Oscar-winning success of "No Country for Old Men," to make their most personal, most intensely Jewish film, a pitch-perfect comedy of despair that, against some odds, turns out to be one of their most universal as well. |
| New York PostLou LumenickMay not have the starry casts of the Coens' more recent films, but it has plenty of heart and soul. |
| Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertHave I mentioned A Serious Man is so rich and funny? This isn't a laugh-laugh movie, but a wince-wince movie. Those can be funny too. |
| Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsA tart, brilliantly acted fable of life’s little cosmic difficulties, a Coen brothers comedy with a darker philosophical outlook than “No Country for Old Men” but with a script rich in verbal wit. |
| Boston GlobeTy BurrIt’s a work of cruel comic genius, in some ways even crueler than “No Country for Old Men.’’ |
| San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleThe movie is funny, definitely funny. But underlying the humor is a vision so bleak, so despairing and so utterly hopeless as to make "No Country for Old Men" almost look cheerful. |
| St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonA comedy of discomfort -- and one of their (Coen brothers) best, most insightful and most provocative films. |
| Empire MagazineDan JolinAdmirably low-key, deeply compelling and their warmest movie since Fargo. |
| QuickflixSimon MiraudoJoel and Ethan Coen love to play God; they put their characters through hell, torturing them endlessly and treating them with disdain before finally giving them peace (usually through death, madness or some form of imprisonment). |
| Moving Pictures MagazineAnnlee EllingsonIn this Coen brothers comedy, a good-hearted, Midwestern family man finds his life unraveling at work and at home although he's done nothing to deserve it. |