UK Film Network

THE TIMES BFI 53^RD LONDON FILM FESTIVAL 14-29 October 2009

Published by: Tremayne (Potter)

Wednesday 28^th October 2009 (Morning Screening for PRESS only!)

A Serious Man

Dir-Scr: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen/ with Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Simon Helberg, Adam Akin (106 min).

The Coen brothers’ film this time around is a much more personal one but shows no signs of being any less fun.  Set in the late 1960s it appears, at first sight, to be in the seemingly ordinary world of Larry Gopnik. He cannot be criticized either for his marital or parental skills.  A hardworking professor at restful Midwestern University,never one to be swayed by the trials and tribulations that his life throws at him, one day everything changes and his life takes a turn for the worse.

His beloved opts to end their marriage for reasons she is not willing to discuss. To make matters worse her new man has the nerve to intervene in their family life and the home he has built up. She manages to persuade him, although short of cash, that it would be better all round if he started living in a motel.  Also, to top it all off, his career is then put on the line through a series of unidentified letters, questioning his favouritism over students, along with his brother who no-one is willing to employ and who is becoming an ever increasing problem.

Larry tries to find some kind of balance and to keep his head held high during all this hardship.  It is the root of all his problems that the film portrays well with its use of rather quaint humour and it is particularly funny when he attempts to find solace by visiting  a series of rabbis  who are less than helpful.  Michael Stuhlbarg plays Larry brilliantly, seemingly underplaying him.

A well put together Coen brothers classic, painting an extremely detailed picture of one character.