Screen Scene: A Serious Man

The Coen brothers really can’t make a bad movie, so it’s hard to know how to judge their films. If you were to base it on the amount of pleasure proportional to the amount of pain you feel while watching it, then “A Serious Man” may not come out on top.

Their latest film, in typical Coen brothers fashion, proves to be quite excruciatingly emotional.

In this case, it’s difficult to watch the suffering of Larry Gopnick (Michael Stuhlbarg), who seems helpless as his world crumbles around him. But it’s hardly fair to criticize the anger that this movie inspires (mostly directed at Larry’s wife) ““ getting the audience so emotionally involved is part of the point. The painfulness of watching Larry suffer is deliberate, adding to the movie’s relatability, realism and comedy. The pain is what makes us think and laugh.

After a cryptic but poignant opening scene involving an ancient Jewish couple that relates obtusely to the main plot, the audience is introduced to Larry, a professor at a small Midwestern university, just as he learns that his wife is in love with another man by the name of Sy Ableman (Fred Melamed), an acquaintance of the family.

This conflict is confounded by the sabotage of Larry’s tenure by disparaging anonymous letters to the tenure committee, his mentally and physically ill live-in brother who may be wanted by the police, a student who attempts to bribe Larry into raising his grade and the Columbia Record Club, which keeps charging him for music records he didn’t order. Poor Larry has a lot on his plate. It sends him into a journey of self-searching that seems hopeless from the start and only gets worse.

Each supporting character in “A Serious Man” is hyperbolically comical. With the amount of sympathy that Larry requires, there probably isn’t room for any other likeable character. You come to hate Larry’s troll-like wife and the touchy-feely man with whom she is cheating on Larry, and his pot-smoking son is really just kicking him when he’s down. That’s probably a success in itself ““ the fact that this movie has the power to get you so riled up that you’re likely to want to punch Mrs. Gopnick in the face.

And then there are the rabbis. The rabbis lend structure to the film, breaking it up into sections that begin with “Rabbi No. 1″ flashing on the screen, then “Rabbi No. 2″ and finally Marshak (Alan Mandell), who is the “god” of rabbis.

Larry meets with each rabbi in the hopes of reconnecting with God and finding some help for all of his problems, first of which is his wife’s infidelity, second of which are his money problems. But the rabbis have nothing of value to offer; in fact, they barely make sense. These ridiculous, unintelligent men certainly don’t help promote a positive view of religion.

While the nonsensical, out-of-touch advice of the rabbis is enough to make anyone give up on religion, Larry ““ bless his heart ““ keeps trying. He ceaselessly tries to get in touch with Marshak, the revered, veteran rabbi, who must be able to help him become a “serious man.” Unfortunately, Larry is informed by Marshak’s secretary that Marshak is too busy “thinking” to meet with him.

Whether Larry’s ending presents him with any hope is up for discussion, unless you compare it to the Coen brothers’ more dark, menacing and downright dismal films.

“A Serious Man” is complex but not confusing, contemplative without sacrificing amusement and painful but not depressing. Is it their best film ever? Probably not, but then again they’ve set the standard pretty high.

““ Jennifer Bastien

E-mail Bastien at [email protected].