A Serious Man (Cert. 15, 105 mins)
Stars: Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Fred Melamed, Sari Lennick, Aaron Wolff, Jessica McManus, Peter Breitmayer, Brent Braunschweig, David Kang
Directed by Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Rating: 4/5
IF FORTUNE truly favours the brave, it’s no surprise that the hen-pecked, mild-mannered mensch at the centre of Joel and Ethan Coen’s new black comedy is pummelled senseless by bad luck.
Set in a Jewish community in mid-1960s Minneapolis reminiscent of the film-maker brothers’ own childhoods, A Serious Man is a deceptively simple portrait of a family in crisis, distinguished by a sharp script and terrific ensemble cast.
A quotation from 11th-century rabbi Rashi (“Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you”) sows the seeds of foreboding, which blossom during a deliciously dark, Yiddish-language prologue.
University physics lecturer Larry Gopnik is knocked for six when wife Judith announces she wants a divorce so she can marry their mutual friend, Sy.
The children don’t appear fussed: daughter Sarah only wants her father around to pay for a nose job, while teenage son Danny just needs him to fiddle with the aerial on the roof so they can receive his favourite television programme.
A Serious Man drops us squarely into the mounting devastation of Larry’s once-idyllic life as, one by one, all of the people closest to him push him away.
