A Serious Man

Was this a good movie? It was well-made, funny, and entertaining, which is really all one can truly ask for. I might be awarding it higher than I should after one viewing, I think it might have the power to grow on me even more. But this is probably the Coens' most outrageous movie since "Barton Fink," without the familiar faces and exaggerated details.

This is also probably their driest humored film since their last Minnesota-based film, without Steve Buscemi or William H. Macy. The movie seems to be some sort of theological discussion about the significance of faith in life, and how a man who has always led a certain kind of life deals (or fails to) when what he believes and what he sees stop adding up.

To describe the plot for this is pretty rough short of calling it a series of unfortunate events.

To the Coens' credit they go almost unanimously with no-names and character actors whose faces are more memorable than the actors themselves. Michael Lerner, who was Oscar-nominated as Mr. Lipnik in "Barton Fink" has a walk-on role, but otherwise I don't think anyone from the Coens' bulging repertoire of actors they've worked with shows up.

And this movie is really funny, in an oh-so-subtle and also outlandish way, often at the expense of the actors.

The final scene is a bit odd, not tacked-on, or out-of-character, but sudden and a little anticlimactic. But I appreciated it makes me think more about what they were trying to do with this movie than I would have otherwise. This is one of those movies I feel needs to be seen, because I don't know where to start explaining it.