Admirably low-key, deeply compelling and their warmest movie since Fargo.
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11/20/09
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A Serious Man (2009)
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Reviews Counted:154
Fresh:133
Rotten:21
Average Rating:7.8/10
Consensus: Blending dark humor with profoundly personal themes, the Coen brothers deliver what might be their most mature -- if not their best -- film to date.
Rated: R [See Full Rating]
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:Oct 2, 2009 Limited
Box Office: $7,476,004
Synopsis: Imaginatively exploring questions of faith, familial responsibility, delinquent behavior, dental phenomena, academia, mortality, and Judaism - and intersections thereof - A Serious Man is the new... [More]
Starring: Michael Stuhlbarg, Fred Melamed, Richard Kind, Aaron Wolf
Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
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Reviews for A Serious Man
The film’s potency is rooted in quiet precision and detailed realisation. Roger Deakins’s typically polished photography gives an oppressively hard edge to Midwestern suburbia.
11/20/09
Possibly the brothers' most consistently amusing film since The Big Lebowski.
11/20/09
A Serious Man represents the brothers at their sardonic best, wringing a sacrilegious amount of gallows humour from the trials of their latterday Job.
11/20/09
Euphoric, sad and thoughtful all at once... The Coens have finished the noughties as America's pre-eminent film-makers.
11/20/09
A Serious Man, whether by accident or design, feels like a scratchier, more personal, less goofy version of the Coens’ aesthetic than they’ve revealed before. Here’s hoping their films get even more truculent in the future.
11/20/09
For proof of comedy and tragedy’s close relationship, watch this. Larry is essentially having a nervous breakdown yet it’s the Coens’ most humanely funny script in years.
11/20/09
It's challenging, only if you want it to be. The secret to enjoying it, like life, is not to obsess over the bits that don't appear to make sense.
11/20/09
A bold, unique, exquisite gem.
11/20/09
The Coen brothers most personal film to date, a typically shkrewy look at Jewishness that smartly nails the ticky-tackiness of American suburbia in 1967.
11/20/09
A complex, non-commercial Coen film that strips back the stars for an absorbing, affectionate look at the Bros’ youth.
11/20/09
A Serious Man feels – initially, at least – like a return to an earlier kind of filmmaking for the Coens.
11/20/09
There’s no real answer given, but then the Coen brothers have never been known as philosophers. They are, however, pretty smart film-makers.
11/20/09
Rigorously controlled, perhaps at the expense of a little emotional light and shade, this is one of the Coens' subtlest films. Expect smiles, grimaces, a slightly furrowed brow, and, finally, a feeling of satisfaction.
11/20/09
To me, and I suspect the mass of the cinema-going public, it feels nasty and pointlessly vindictive. There's a hole in the middle of this movie, where a modicum of empathy and humanity ought to be.
11/20/09
Another impudent and exquisitely engineered comedy from Joel and Ethan Coen.
11/20/09
Comedy, even tragicomedy, should not feel like such hard work.
11/20/09
The film is slow-burning and lugubrious but there is some amusement to be found in the parade of eccentric individuals, running jokes and repetitive dream sequences served up to illustrate the fact that life is one big cosmic joke.
11/20/09
It's impeccable filmmaking, with the Coens' expert writing, directing and editing enhanced by Roger Deakins' vibrant cinematography.
11/20/09
While the plot might not have the epic sweep of No Country For Old Men or be the comedy bloodbath of Fargo, this film is every bit their equal.
11/20/09
Latest News for A Serious Man
October 19, 2009:
Total Recall: The Best-Reviewed Coen Brothers Films
For more than two decades now, Joel and Ethan Coen have been thrilling critics -- and, here and there, audiences -- with their distinctive blend of dark humor, colorful... More...
October 01, 2009:
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This week at the movies, we've got zombie zaniness (Zombieland, starring Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg); derby dolls (Whip it, starring Drew Barrymore and Ellen Page);... More...
September 25, 2009:
Friday Harvest: A Serious Man, Up in the Air, and more!
Happy Friday Harvest, a weekly round-up of the best pictures, posters, and videos that have become available for viewing/download on Rotten Tomatoes. Each section features the... More...
September 09, 2009:
Buzz Builds for Toronto International Film Festival Offerings 
It'll feature more than 250 films from 60 countries, but don't feel overwhelmed -- the Los Angeles Times is here to help you sift through what's on offer at this year's Toronto... More...
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