Comedy, even tragicomedy, should not feel like such hard work.
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11/20/09
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A Serious Man (2009)
87
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Reviews Counted:159
Fresh:138
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
Humor and empathy alike have trouble flourishing in the grim narrative soil the Coens provide, in which every cosmic joke is a black one.
10/09/09
Top CriticTo 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
It's not so much that "A Serious Man" isn't accessible--it is that. But the film never sets down parameters.
09/28/09
It's fair to ask - even beyond the gargoyles and caricatures who pass for Jewish people in the film - what the point of it all was.
10/09/09
As a piece of moviemaking craft, A Serious Man is fascinating; in every other way, it’s intolerable.
09/28/09
Top Critic...a typically inscrutable effort from the Coens...
09/21/09
A faint promising shadow of the potential masterwork it should have been.
10/08/09
Since everyone is turned into such a caricature, the answers feel optional. It's hard to forget that Larry's fate is being controlled not by God or luck or even his own worst instincts, but by the Coens.
10/02/09
The production notes are larded with the Coen Brothers' disclaiming protestations of affection for their hapless characters, but make no mistake: We're being invited to share in their disgust.
09/29/09
Top CriticWhat do the Coen brothers want of us? More specifically, what do they want us to think of the repellent people in this pitilessly bleak movie?
10/02/09
Top CriticTakes the concept of the self-loathing Jew to an arguably loathsome new level...
10/30/09
The bemusements of family turmoil, ambition in academia, three rabbis and one lawyer, and the universality of self-absorption demonstrate that the Coen's love of satire is intact, but with a guy to whom you're too unattached for a warm hug.
09/23/09
You're unlikely to react with much more than a shrug.
11/15/09
One might put up with the insufferable sense of superiority of the Coen brothers if this movie had some laughs.
10/17/09
Larry's spiritual crisis doesn't attain its demanded empathy, leaving A Serious Man as a lesser work by great artists.
11/04/09
All the Coens come up with is a movie about bad things happening to limited people.
10/23/09
Bleak and tedious, it's an ambivalent memoir about Biblical adversity, filled with edgy, alienating angst.
10/28/09
Sort of a modern day setting for the Book of Job, although the acting is exceptional this is probably too esoteric to appeal to a wide audience.
10/13/09
Every character is ugly and repulsive except the shiksa next door. What does this say about the Coen Brothers?
10/22/09
Latest News for A Serious Man
October 19, 2009:
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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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