For anyone who is a little behind in their catechism class, the book of Job concerns a pious man of good fortune who gets caught in the middle of a bet between God and Satan. Satan bets that Job will lose his faith in God if he is struck with misfortune, and as an assessment of his servant’s faith, God allows this theory to be tested.
In A Serious Man, the Coen brothers play the role of Satan and seek to make Larry Gopnick’s (Michael Stuhlbarg) life as miserable as possible. Much of the film has Larry seeking the advice of rabbis in order to make sense of his bad fortune, from his wife leaving him for a colleague to his deadbeat brother taking up eternal residence on his couch.
Surprisingly enough, the film is first and foremost a comedy. The humor primarily derives from the absurdity of Larry’s increasingly bleak situation and the wacky parade of unattractive weirdos who take turns trying to comfort him. Larry simply sits back and observes, completely horrified by the mess that his life has become.
The Coens use the feeling of being the most unlucky person in the world as a base and build in humor as Larry suffers through never-ending misfortunes. A series of genuinely haunting moments put the humor into perspective, though, as the viewer is forced to consider Larry’s continual, frustrating struggle to be taken seriously. By the time it reaches its astounding ending, the film is uplifting in that it demonstrates there is humor to be found in the bleakest of places — if only you don’t lose your sanity first.
4 stars Directed by: Ethan and Joel Coen Starring: Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind Rated R, 105 min.
