A Serious Man

[Keith Whitener]

Anyone see this yet? I just did and liked it a lot, but I must mull it over for a while.

[JonFromMaplewood]

Saw it last week and liked it a lot too.

[thom]

I haven't seen it yet but a trustworthy buddy-ol'-pal said: "It was like someone stole the first draft of a Coen brothers script and then made it into a movie."

[Pat K]

Has anyone ever read any of Ethan Coen's fiction? He had a great book of short stories years ago called "Gates Of Eden" that I've always liked. This is the one Coen movie I've seen that has reminded me the most of Ethan's fiction. 

[Joe Rogaine]

It opens here this weekend and i cant wait.

[JonFromMaplewood]

Has anyone ever read any of Ethan Coen's fiction? He had a great book of short stories years ago called "Gates Of Eden" that I've always liked. This is the one Coen movie I've seen that has reminded me the most of Ethan's fiction. 

I read one in the New Yorker a long time ago.  It had to do with a guy driving down a desolate road at night on a frigid evening in Minnesota. He hits a deer and gets pinned under the animal and slowly freezes to death. 

Good times.

[Keith Whitener]

Ethan Coen and David Foster Wallace make me regret not being able to do an honors thesis in philosophy. It looks great in a Wikipedia page!

[Tom Scharpling]

I saw it and absolutely loved it. I think it's way up there with the best of their stuff.

Tom.

[nec13]

I just perused the film's IMDB page and noticed that one of my all-time favorite actors, Fyvush Finkel, is in this film.

Now I think I have to see it.

[masterofsparks]

I liked it a lot. The film's final shot is still haunting me weeks later.

[crumbum]

Definitely top-tier Coens.

I wrote about my misgivings re: the ending on the General Movie Thread, but I don't think I made any sense cause I was trying not to spoil anything and I was (and am) still confused about it.

My problem is that (spoiler) up until the last two or three minutes, the overarching idea seems to be something like 'there is no discernible point to any of the terrible things God chooses to subject us to, and whether you commit good or evil acts it's not going to influence your fate, so just ride it out and try to remain a Serious person.' Seems a bit bland as a moral but they make something absolutely amazing out of it.

Then in the last sequence they appear to say, 'but if you make one small misstep like changing a student's grade in exchange for money, God might immediately kill you and the people you love most. So be extra careful, dummy.'

This really bothered me coming out of the movie as it seemed to contradict the previous hour and a half, but a few weeks later I think the contradiction actually makes the movie more ambiguous and rewarding. The Coen's are playing God, leading us along a safe path that seems to make sense for a while and then tripping us up at the last second.

Sorry to get so analytical about it, but I think the movie begs for this kind of discussion.

[Pat K]

Regarding the last sequence (spoilers, obviously):

I really need to see this at least once more before I can really feel like I've wrapped my mind around what I think is going on and articulate my thoughts with any confidence. That being said, I didn't necessarily take the tornado as being retribution for changing the students grade, although that's an interesting take I'll have to think about.

I just took it as being part of the bait-and-switch that was going on in those last scenes. You know, you think he's going to get his tenure, he's going to use the bribe money to pay his bills, and you see that sense of relief wash over him. You start to think it's is a movie about how God doesn't give us any more than we can handle, joy and sorrow come in moderation, all that hopelessness was just a red herring, etc. But then the tornado comes and you realize, nope - God will BEAT YOU DOWN for no reason with no warning. 

...I think?? 

I read one in the New Yorker a long time ago.  It had to do with a guy driving down a desolate road at night on a frigid evening in Minnesota. He hits a deer and gets pinned under the animal and slowly freezes to death. 

I heard Mike is developing a screenplay based on this one, actually. He's in talks with Bruno S to play the deer.

[masterofsparks]

Regarding the last sequence (spoilers, obviously):

I really need to see this at least once more before I can really feel like I've wrapped my mind around what I think is going on and articulate my thoughts with any confidence. That being said, I didn't necessarily take the tornado as being retribution for changing the students grade, although that's an interesting take I'll have to think about.

I just took it as being part of the bait-and-switch that was going on in those last scenes. You know, you think he's going to get his tenure, he's going to use the bribe money to pay his bills, and you see that sense of relief wash over him. You start to think it's is a movie about how God doesn't give us any more than we can handle, joy and sorrow come in moderation, all that hopelessness was just a red herring, etc. But then the tornado comes and you realize, nope - God will BEAT YOU DOWN for no reason with no warning. 

Not to mention the phone call he gets from the doctor.

[moonshake]

I liked how funny it was despite the gloomy theme. Overall though, it wasn't as satisfying as I thought it was going to be. I guess I was expecting something a little more subtle. How many times does Larry say "But I didn't do anything"? I do need to watch it again to form a better opinion though. Ethan Coen said on Charlie Rose that the ending was similar to NCFOM, and they are- but to me the NCFOM ending was so much more delicate and touching.

[Keith Whitener]

To me the ending was more of, "Hey, God here, still think I'm worthy of worship? HOW ABOUT NOW?!"

The Coens have thrown God into the mix in terms of miscommunication as a recurring theme in their work. Or maybe they've done it before, but now much more explicitly.

Thought the eye make up of the neighbor was odd.