A Serious Man

The Angelika Theater in Plano is featuring another fantastic Cohen Brothers’ movie. This week, we were thoroughly entertained by A Serious Man.

A Serious Man is set in 1960’s Midwest and follows the trials of Larry Gopnick (hilariously portrayed by Michael Stuhlbarg). He is in many ways typical of the main characters Joel and Ethan Cohen feature in their films – struggling to gain their footing on a slippery slope of demise. As Larry’s life unravels around him, he finds himself caught between the certainty of the Physics class he teaches, and the uncertainty of his life. We appreciated the irony between the black and white reality of Physics versus the unscientific faith religion requires. Also worth mentioning are the hysterical performances by Fred Melamed (Sly Abelman) as the “other man” and Richard Kind (uncle Arthur) as Larry’s brother who lives with the family and spends most of his time monopolizing the one family bathroom while draining the sebaceous cyst on his neck.

People familiar with Jewish culture, especially those who grew up in the 60’s, will find humor in all of the religious and cultural references. Though we only laughed out loud a few times, we did a lot of smirking and giggling. As with other Cohen brother movies, it takes a little bit of time until you feel comfortable laughing at the darkness before you, but once you put yourself in the proper “Cohen mood”,  you find yourself seeing humor in the most surprising places. Consider it a break from the seriousness of real life to be able to enjoy a Cohen film.

We were split on our ratings – H gave it a big ‘0”, D gave it a ‘5’, and ‘S’ was in the middle with a ‘3’.

Decide for yourself by spending an afternoon or evening at the Shops of Legacy and the Angelika.