Seriously

Hello one and all!
I started a new semester at school which means new classes! I have Film and Video Production 12, Math 12, and Drama 12. In film and video we get to do a film review every week so I thought I'd share this review I did of the newest Coen brothers film A Serious Man So enjoy!

A Serious Man is the newest film by the Coen brothers. The main character, Larry Gopnik, a physics professor at a small university. Larry doesn't have much going for him at this point in his life. His wife is leaving him, his son has disipline issues, his daughter sneaks money from him to save for a “nose job” and his brother who consistantly becomes more and more of a burden is living at his house. On top of all that there is anonymous letter writter attempting to sabotage his chances of getting tenure at his university, and did I mention there is a student attempting to bribe him for a passing mark? Larry throught the movie goes to three differant rabbis to seek an answer as too why it is all happening to him and how he can become a rightous person.

I thought that this movie was yet another masterpeice in a long line of Coen brothers classics. The story was very well written and you were immediately engulfed by it as soon as you heard Jefferson Airplane playing at the beginning.

The movie is a very dark comedy so to an average viewer they may just watch this movie and see a sad story about a man who appears to have absolutley nothing going for him. Although I also saw the sad in this movie there was a number of scenes which I laughed out loud at, like the scene where the father of the son who tried to bribe Larry shows up at his house bumping his fists together reapeating the phrase “culture clash” in a heavy east asian accent. Or when Larry's son calls to complain about F-Troop not having good reception on the TV which leads to a scene where Larry learns there is an anonymous letter writer threatening his chances at tenure at which point he recieves another call from his son which Larry answers with “Is it F-troop again!?” in an extremely distressed voice. It's moments of dark, dry humour like this (which I could never possibly do justice by explaining in print) that makes this move so genious.

It was a movie of subtleties, whether it was subtleties in facial expressions or tone of voice the actors in the film did an phenominal job in potraying these little things which made the very real, very raw human emotion in the film. Another aspect of the film I enjoyed was the simplicity of the shots. There were very few shots where the camera moved. The colours in the film were also very pale and dull. Those two aspects gave the movie a very minimalistic feel which I think mirrored the plot.

The only negative points in this movie are mere matters of opinion. For example if you are the kind of person who enjoys moives that make perfect sence when taken at face value you would not like this movie. It is very dry, subtle, slow, and dark upfront but when you start to scratch at the surface you see the humour, life and reality that can make this movie such a peice of art for viewers like me.

Personally I found Larry to be very identifiable with. Although I have never been through the struggles he went through in the film I feel like his reactions to his situations were very real and were reactions that I think I would share if put in his situation.

I think that the Coen brothers were doing what they do best in this movie which was showing raw human behavior. Although the plot was somewhat far fetched (as it is in many Coen brother films) it was a great representation of human emotion and human reactions to such extreme emotional situations. I think they did a great job of showing it in this film and I hope to see it again in their up coming film due to be out in 2011

Overall I give this movie two huge thumbs up and recommend it for film buffs and anyone who likes movies that take a little bit of thinking.

Seriously yours,
Grant M. Hawkins