A Serious Man is a film like nothing I’ve ever seen before. To me it represents an extreme precision in filmmaking that only the Coen Brothers can achieve. Where do I begin in describing this film? I’m not sure. There are no clear answers in my analysis or in the film itself. But that’s ok.
It’s all about a man whose life is falling apart. His wife leaves him, he finds his job reputation threatened, he struggles financially to pay for disastrous events that plague his life. All because he did nothing. Where is the justice in that? In this film, which draws much of its story inspiration from the biblical account of Job, there isn’t really a lot of closure or definite reasons given for these events. They just happen. The Coen Brothers are much more interested in exploring these topics than solving them. And by crafting an ultra-specific journey of one man’s confusing, often funny struggle through life, I somehow recognize so much of what I’m seeing on screen in the life around me as well.
And with that, I leave you with a very short inconclusive review of a film that I can confidently say I loved.