Bryan College Triangle

by Phillip Johnston

I’ll admit from the start that I don’t quite know how to write about Joel and Ethan Coen’s new film “A Serious Man” (newly released on DVD), but I’ll begin with a few things I know for sure. I know that this is a hysterically funny movie and that it made me laugh so hard that my stomach started to ache. I know that it is very personal on the part of the filmmakers and that it is perfectly executed for just that reason. I’m confident that it achieves a polished completeness and finality that many directors only dream of.

But do I understand it?

I wish.

Here’s the rundown: Life is unraveling for physics professor and generally good man Larry Gopnik. His wife, Judith, is having an affair with an aloof family friend and wants a divorce. His brother Arthur (Richard Kind) is emotionally and physically incapable of living alone and spends his nights in Larry’s living room.

The Gopnik children, Danny and Sarah, are pilfering cash from their father’s wallet to buy pot and save up for a nose job. There’s an anonymous person writing nasty letters to the university to tarnish Larry’s good reputation and destroy his chances at tenure. An unhappy graduate student is attempting to bribe him for a better math grade with an envelope of large bills.

Distraught and terribly confused, Larry sets out on a quest to find some balance to the chaos. A devout Jew, he’s advised by his friends to talk to the rabbi. He consults three and they all have different non-answers. Temptations arise, questions go unanswered, doors get slammed in his face, and Larry is confronted with many a harrowing choice, each one compounding the mystery of the Coen brothers’ latest existential riddle. Read full story »