A SERIOUS MAN

I went to see this with a couple of friends after a couple of disasters with our local cinema at first not showing it and then getting a copy that was damaged. Unless you live in a big city it seems even with a big multiplex that you're not guaranteed a 'little' film is gonna show at all let alone when it suits you. And when I say 'little film' I'm talking about a Coen Brothers film, yeah the Coen Brothers that won an oscar last year, it's ridiculous but unless you have giant fighting robots or the World being blown to bits or hormonal vampires it seems you're not what the public want to see. Honestly, I think Avatar will run on 15 screens until 2011, yet A Serious Man was only fleetingly on one screen at a time.



Anyway I got to see it and it was one of those films where I think the best part about the film is afterwards when thinking about it. I'm not saying that the film itself wasn't enjoyable. It had everything you expect from a Coen Brothers movie there were laughs all the way through, brilliant characters and really engaging drama and of course brilliant writing and direction. In terms of tone I'd place it about halfway between their kind of slapstick stuff like Burn After Reading or their more serious stuff like No Country for Old Men. In terms of genre it's probably a dark comedy but as with all of their films it's quite hard to define.

Anyway what I was saying about it being more impressive after the film has actually screened. Only a few films do this effectively and all the ones I can name are brilliant films so hopefully on repeated viewings the film will hold up well. As me and my mates came out we were discussing the film and what we thought it meant or was trying to say because it isn't obvious and if you need a definite ending this film is not for you. And if you need a definite ending you are clearly incapable of thinking for yourself so really don't worry. As we discussed it the film clearly seemed to be saying different things to each of us and we debated what we thought. Only good films can do that, you can have a bad film with an open ending and it normally means people don't care enough to have that conversation. Anyway I went home and my mate heard somewhere it was a modern re-telling of the story of Job, which seemed to make a lot of sense. Whatever the meaning though the film was very enjoyable and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes intelligent film-making. And fans of the Coen Brothers. Those two groups are the same people aren't they?