A SERIOUS MAN
Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen
Yes, this was a much smaller film than we may have become accustomed to from America’s most famous filmmaking brothers (NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN and BURN AFTER READING) are their two most successful films of all time, after all. Yes, it was very Jewish, and yes it was brilliant, in a more Coen-esque fashion than either of their two more lionised recent hits. Michael Stuhlbarg (a near unknown) is brilliant in the titular role, as a man whose life is becoming unstuck – his wife is leaving him, for a mutual friend, one of his students is offering him a bribe, he can’t connect to his kids and his ailing brother is causing him stress. In typically playful style, the brothers take us through our Serious Man’s trials and tribulations, and the accumulation of weight upon his shoulders. It feels like an older, more restrained BARTON FINK, which is a compliment of the highest order. It’s likely to be regarded as a minor classic in the not too distant future.
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