A "Serious" Oscar Contender

I type this on the day before Thanksgiving. Cinematically, I’m always grateful for directors who challenge me, not just present a situation and then guide me (or worse, force feed me) how I’m supposed to react.

Such is the case with the Coen Brothers’ latest effort, “A Serious Man”. I’m still reacting – a week later.

The Coen’s last Oscar-winning film was “No Country for Old Men”. That film shows the true personification of evil, as portrayed by Oscar-Winner Javier Bardem. I contend it’s more about fate, how actions have consequences, and that things in life can literally turn on the flip of a coin.

The new film, while semi-autobiographical, also reinforces the concept of fate. But it also accentuates the consequences of inaction. The protagonist, Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg, in an Oscar-worthy performance), basically watches his life pass him by. He’s a professor at a university, and his life seems to fly as high over his head as his lesson fly over his students’.

As the film progresses, Larry is presented a series of temptations and moral dilemmas, which he either downplays or ignores altogether. But in the world of the Coen Brothers, ignorance is far from bliss. All things must be accounted for, as Larry watches his family (the entire supporing cast is fantastic), his job, and his life spin completely out of control, all the while bewailing “I didn’t do anything”.

The main criticism most people have about this film is what I’ll call the “hard stop”. Just like the end of “Old Country”, the end comes abruptly and with little warning. Part of me felt ripped off, because I’d invested a good deal of my thoughts and time into these characters, something which I normally don’t need to do when watching a film.

Then I thought some more, and realized that the ending can go multiple ways. Although I happen to have my own opinion as to how the action would follow, I might be wrong. This is a film that demands discussion – I wish I knew more people who had seen it to discuss it with. I left the theater feeling energized, refreshed and curious. I’m glad I didn’t see it as part of a double (which was my original plan), because I think not allowing it to breathe would have wrecked it.

Like it or not, this is a film that you can’t help but react to. It’s nice to finally see a film that doesn’t manipulate my feelings, but allows them to all be justified. The Coens may not exactly have a wide audience – and most moviegoers probably wouldn’t have the patience for this film. That’s a shame. Because in the world of the Coens, the very last thing you can say about them is that they “don’t do anything”. It’s too bad that more directors and writers, even in this Oscar season, can’t be the same.

“A Serious Man”, Rated R, 105 minutes (***1/2)