The beauty about so many Coen Bros films is that they seem to get better upon repeated viewings. A Serious Man would fall into that category. It's a bit of a personal film for them as it takes place in the late 60s in a mid-western town similar to where they grew up.
Now when making a film that takes place in the late 60's, lesser film makers would have used the same cliches and this film would be filled with nothing but Hippies and Woodstock images. But not the Coens, what we have is a slice of their adolescent years and a glimpse of middle-class life of the time as experienced through the Jewish-American community. No big war protest but instead a hapless man, struggling with life, dealing with modernity and all the usual trappings and pitfalls - pain in the ass neighbors, car accidents, bullies, bad mail-order deals and a rooftop tv antenna that gives trouble.
But Larry's biggest problem is his unsatisifed wife, who just matter of factly decides to leave him for a 'Serious Man'. Again in a lesser film, she would leave him for some hearthrob but here the charming cuckold-er (sp?) is a man by the name of Sy Abelman (played brilliantly by Fred Melamed). Sy is past middle age, balding, graying, overweight with glasses and can be seen wearing an acqua blue jump suit on his way to a round of golf, but the way the Coens wrote this character and the detail in the way the community is presented, the viewer really understands that in this circle, this guy is a freakin chick magnet. Not to mention what a wonderful performance he gives.
Then there are the Coen characters: the phlegm hacking attorney, the profanity inclined kid on the school bus, the Korean exchange student who expects to bribe his way to a good grade. The exchanges between the Korean exchange student, his dad and the protagonist are worth the rental alone. Then there's Larry's unemployed brother (the hysterical Richard Kind)- a mathematical genius, who spends half the day in the bathroom trying to take care of some skin condition but is making an effort to meet women at "Hillah House"
This is simply a fine and unique film. It may not be the rip-roaring fun that Big Lebowski or O' Brother are but it definitely is one of their better films and that's saying a lot as the Coens might be the finest film makers on the planet. Mazel tov!
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