The new film of the brothers Coen plays in the Jewish community of Minnesota in which Larry Gopnik thinks to lead a calm and normal life. He teaches physics as a Jewish highschool and his son is up for his Bar Mitswa. The only thing is that Larry’s brother Arthur stays with the family driving his daughter crazy and apparently also his wife. One thing after another goes bad and Larry no longer knows what is left and what is right. He visits a Jewish lawyer and Rabbis and the film gives a nice peek in the modern, American Jewish society. With the typical Coen black humour a story unravels of a man tossed between faith/tradition and the time his lives in. “A Serious Man” is not a hilaric film as the Coens can make them, it is more of a drama with subtle humour. The film seems to portray a few parts of different stories that suddenly end. “A Serious Man” is a nice film, but in my opinion, not one of the better Coens.
