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Later, Larry's department head hints that he will be granted tenure. After receiving the bill from his divorce attorney, he agonizes for a few moments the accepts the bribe from Clive's father and gives the boy a passing grade. After which, his doctor calls about the results of a chest X-ray he had recently. Meanwhile, a massive [[tornado]] is approaching Danny's school. While the teacher struggles to unlock the shelter, Danny and his dealer watch the oncoming funnel cloud as Danny considers settling up the $20 debt.
Later, Larry's department head hints that he will be granted tenure. After receiving the bill from his divorce attorney, he agonizes for a few moments the accepts the bribe from Clive's father and gives the boy a passing grade. After which, his doctor calls about the results of a chest X-ray he had recently. Meanwhile, a massive [[tornado]] is approaching Danny's school. While the teacher struggles to unlock the shelter, Danny and his dealer watch the oncoming funnel cloud as Danny considers settling up the $20 debt.

==Cast and characters==
* [[Michael Stuhlbarg]] as Larry Gopnik
* [[Richard Kind]] as Arthur Gopnik
* [[Sari Wagner Lennick]] as Judith Gopnik
* [[Fred Melamed]] as Sy Ableman
* [[Aaron Wolff]] as Danny Gopnik
* [[Jessica McManus]] as Sarah Gopnik
* [[Adam Arkin]] as Don Milgram
* [[George Wyner]] as Rabbi Nachtner
* [[Amy Landecker]] as Mrs. Samsky
* [[Katherine Borowitz]] as Mimi Nudell
* [[Fyvush Finkel]] as Reb Groshkover (listed in credits as ''Dybbuk?'')
* [[Simon Helberg]] as Rabbi Scott Ginzler
* [[Andrew S. Lentz]] as Mark Sallerson
* [[Jack Swiler]] as Howard Altar
* [[Tim Harlan-Marks]] as Hebrew school bus driver
* [[Benjy Portnoe]] as Ronnie Nudell
* [[Brent Braunschweig]] as Mitch Brandt
* [[Ari Hoptman]] as Arlen Finkle
* [[Michael Lerner (actor)|Michael Lerner]] as Solomon Schlutz
* [[David Kang (actor)|David Kang]] as Clive
* [[Steve Park (comedian)|Steve Park]] as Clive's father

* Open auditions for the roles of Danny and Sarah were held on May 4, 2008, at the Sabes Jewish Community Center in [[St. Louis Park, Minnesota]], one of the scheduled shooting locations for the film. Open auditions for the role of Sarah were also held in June 2008 in [[Chicago, Illinois]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}}


==Production==
==Production==

Revision as of 21:32, 2 December 2009

A Serious Man
A man standing on the roof of a house
Directed byJoel Coen
Ethan Coen
Written byEthan Coen
Joel Coen
Produced byEthan Coen
Joel Coen
StarringMichael Stuhlbarg
Richard Kind
Sari Wagner Lennick
Fred Melamed
Aaron Wolff
CinematographyRoger Deakins
Edited byRoderick Jaynes
Music byCarter Burwell
Production
companies
Distributed byFocus Features
Release date
October 2, 2009 (limited)
Running time
105 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$7,000,000
Box office$8,183,000[1]

A Serious Man is a drama film written, produced, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. It was released on October 2, 2009 in the United States. The film loosely retells the Jewish biblical story of Job in the modern American era.[2] [3] The film has attracted a highly positive critical response.

Plot

In Minneapolis in 1967, Jewish professor of physics and family man, Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) lives with his troubled family. His son Danny (Aaron Wolf) habitually smokes marijuana. Larry's wife Judith (Sari Lennick) wants a divorce so she can be with family friend and widower, Sy Ableman (Fred Melamed). Daughter Sarah (Jessica McManus) appears to be stealing money from her father to get a nose job, and his brother Arthur (Richard Kind) has been crashing on their couch for several months writing a dense numerological treatise. At Judith and Sy's insistence, Larry and Arthur moved to a nearby hotel, after which Judith empties their joint financial accounts leaving Larry penniless. At work, Larry is up for tenure, but the committee has received defamatory letters speaking against him, and one of his students, Clive, is claiming that his exams are unfair. When Larry finds an envelope stuffed with thousands of dollars, he is furious that Clive would try to bribe him.

To cope with his troubles, Larry turns to his faith and seeks advice from three rabbis. The first, a very young rabbi, fumbles through platitudes about maintaining fresh perspectives in order to see God. The second, his regular rabbi, recounts a tale of a Jewish dentist who turned to him for advice after discovering a mysterious Hebrew phrase engraved on the back of teeth of an unaware patient. As the long, rambling story continues, Larry presses for the point and asks about the teeth. The rabbi acts surprised by the question and responds, "Who cares?". The third, Rabbi Marshak is an elderly senior rabbi and a highly respected figure. As such, he is also inaccessibly, limiting his appearances towards only congratulating individuals completing their bar mitzvahs. Unable to gain an audience with the rabbi after numerous attempts, Larry is finally turned away by his secretary.

On the day of Danny's bar mitzvah, Danny arrives high on marijuana and initially struggles to complete the ceremony. During the event, Judith expresses regret over the recent strife, and tells him that Sy always liked him and even wrote letters to the tenure committee for him. Though still high, after completing the ceremony Danny is taken to Rabbi Marshak's office, where the rabbi quotes a line from "Somebody To Love", a song by Jefferson Airplane. He then returns a transistor radio that was confiscated from the boy earlier, and Danny is relieved that it still has the $20 tucked into it that he owes his dealer.

Later, Larry's department head hints that he will be granted tenure. After receiving the bill from his divorce attorney, he agonizes for a few moments the accepts the bribe from Clive's father and gives the boy a passing grade. After which, his doctor calls about the results of a chest X-ray he had recently. Meanwhile, a massive tornado is approaching Danny's school. While the teacher struggles to unlock the shelter, Danny and his dealer watch the oncoming funnel cloud as Danny considers settling up the $20 debt.

Cast and characters

  • Open auditions for the roles of Danny and Sarah were held on May 4, 2008, at the Sabes Jewish Community Center in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, one of the scheduled shooting locations for the film. Open auditions for the role of Sarah were also held in June 2008 in Chicago, Illinois.[citation needed]

Production

Considerable attention was paid to the setting; it was important to the Coens to find a neighborhood of original-looking suburban rambler homes as they would have appeared in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, in the mid-1960s. Locations were scouted in nearby communities Edina, Richfield, Brooklyn Center, and Hopkins[4] before a suitable location was found in Bloomington.[5] The look of the film is partly based on the Brad Zellar book Suburban World: The Norling Photographs, a collection of photographs of Bloomington in the 1950s and 60s.[6]

Location filming began on September 8, 2008, in Minnesota.

Long time collaborator Roger Deakins rejoined the Coen brothers as cinematographer, following his absence from Burn After Reading. This is the tenth film he has worked on with the Coen brothers.[7] Costume designer Mary Zophres returns for her ninth collaboration with the directors.[7]

An office scene was shot at Normandale Community College in Bloomington. The film also used a set built in the school's library, as well as a small section of the second floor science building hallway. The synagogue is the B'Nai Emet Synagogue in St. Louis Park.

The Coen brothers also shot some scenes in St. Olaf College's old science building because of its similar period architecture.[8][9]

Filming was also scheduled to occur on October 24, 2008, at Cooper's grocery store located in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Filming wrapped on November 6, 2008, after 44 days, ahead of schedule and within budget.[10]

Release

The film had a limited release on October 2, 2009, in the United States. The film has an R rating from the MPAA.[11] It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2009.[12] A trailer was released online on July 30, 2009.[13]

Reception

The film holds an 87% 'Fresh' Rating at Rotten Tomatoes, based on 159 reviews.[14] Reviews have been mostly positive, with some critics calling it the Coen brothers' most mature film to date.[15]

Roger Ebert said the film "bears every mark of a labor of love,"[16] and Variety's Todd McCarthy commented that "the Coens' filmmaking skills are sharply attentive," and that A Serious Man is "the kind of picture you get to make after you've won an Oscar".[17][16] Claudia Puig of USA Today writes, "A Serious Man is a wonderfully odd, bleakly comic and thoroughly engrossing film. Underlying the grim humor are serious questions about faith, family, mortality and misfortune."[18] TIME critic Richard Corliss describes it as "disquieting" and "haunting."[19] Christy Lemire called it "the Coens' most thoughtful and personal film" and gave it three-and-a-half stars out of four.[20]

Not all critics agreed. The Wall Street Journal's Joe Morgenstern disliked what he saw as misanthropy in the film, saying that "...their caricatures range from dis-likable through despicable, with not a smidgen of humanity to redeem them."[21] David Denby from The New Yorker enjoyed the look and feel of the film, but found fault with the script and characterization: "A Serious Man, like Burn After Reading, is in their bleak, black, belittling mode, and it's hell to sit through... As a piece of movie-making craft, A Serious Man is fascinating; in every other way, it's intolerable."[22]

References

  1. ^ A Serious Man at Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2009-11-31.
  2. ^ Persall, Steve (November 1, 2009). "Coen brothers' 'A Serious Man' has troubles of Job without uplift". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved November 22, 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ Philip French (November 22, 2009). "A Serious Man". The Guardian. Retrieved November 26, 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ Campbell, Tim (September 28, 2007). "Coen brothers to get 'Serious' in Minnesota". Star Tribune. Retrieved November 22, 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ Covert, Colin (September 6, 2008). "In Twin Cities, Coen brothers shoot from heart". Star Tribune. Retrieved November 22, 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ "Serious' film was nostalgic pleasure for Coen brothers". Twincities.com. Retrieved 2009-11-04.
  7. ^ a b "Production Begins on the Coen's A Serious Man". Comingsoon.net. Retrieved September 9 2008. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  8. ^ Henke, David (August 19, 2008), "Coen brothers will use St. Olaf for movie", Northfield News, retrieved 2009-12-01
  9. ^ Gonnerman, David (October 9, 2008), "St. Olaf gets 'Serious'", St. Olaf College News, retrieved 2009-12-01
  10. ^ "It's a wrap! Coen brothers' latest film is in the can". StarTribune.com. Retrieved 2008-11-11.
  11. ^ "Focus Feature's release dates". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  12. ^ "Oscar-winning Coens head home with "A Serious Man"". Reuters. Retrieved 2009-09-14.
  13. ^ "Check out the trailer for the Coens' A Serious Man". Onion AV Club. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
  14. ^ A Serious Man at Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2009-11-31.. Quote: "Blending dark humor with profoundly personal themes, the Coen brothers deliver what might be their most mature -- if not their best -- film to date."
  15. ^ "A Serious Man Movie Review". Best for Film. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
  16. ^ a b Ebert, Roger (October 7, 2009). "A Serious Man". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved November 22, 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ McCarthy, Todd (September 11, 2009). "A Serious Man". Variety. Retrieved November 22, 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  18. ^ "'A Serious Man' is a seriously good departure for Coens". USA Today. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
  19. ^ "A Serious Man: The Coen Brothers' Jewish Question". TIME. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
  20. ^ "Seriously funny troubles abound in `Serious Man'". Associated Press. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
  21. ^ "'A Serious Man'". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
  22. ^ Denby, David. "Gods and Victims: "A Serious Man" and "Capitalism: A Love Story."". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2009-10-02. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A_Serious_Man&oldid=329315993"