A Serious Man
This movie is in some ways very typical Coen brothers movie. The characters are all a bit off and entertaining to watch, while in other ways this is very different Coen brothers movie. Even though the characters are odd, they are much more realistic than characters in other Coen brothers movies. It does live up to the “serious” in the title.
In 1967, the main character, Larry, is a professor up for tenure and thinks everything in his life is going okay until it all starts to fall apart. This flusters him greatly since he didn’t see any of it coming. While one thing after another starts falling apart around him, he starts to seek advice from various rabbis who give horrible advice.
It does seem like everything is coming into place towards the end of the movie, but then craziness starts to happen again. Then it just ends. While I thought the way No Country For Old Men just ended with no real conclusion actually worked for that movie, I don’t think it was really satisfying for this one. It just seemed like the movie stopped when it wasn’t really close to the end. I was enjoying it until that point. Then, I was just left hanging.
Grade: B
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i read an article about how the movie itself is an example of schrodinger’s cat theory, and after reading the article it turned the movie from interesting fodder into an absolute masterpiece. if you have the time, read the lengthy (but worthwhile) analysis over at http://toddalcott.livejournal.com. the ending of the movie coincides with the fact that larry has made an immoral decision to change the students grade. therefore, he is then punished. his son is punished by the tornado for not listening to the rabbi and being a good boy. the ending, while grim, makes perfect sense.