Ralph's Movie Reviews: A SERIOUS MAN

Saturday, October 24, 2009

A SERIOUS MAN

Drama

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Michael Stuhlbarg: college mathematics professor Larry Gopnik
Sari Lennick: his wife Judith
Aaron Wolff: their son Danny
Jessica McManus: their daughter Sarah
Richard Kind: Larry's unemployable brother, Uncle Arthur
Fred Melamed: Larry’s best friend Sy Ableman

REVIEW
I never did figure out what the first ten minutes was all about: a Jewish folklore tale maybe?

Promoted as a comedy, once the real movie gets going I sat there waiting for something funny to happen. It never did. Not once did I find anything even remotely amusing: Larry is faced with all kinds of problems, none of which are something to laugh at. And I was not the only one unable to find humour in the situation. Are we all that thick? Can’t appreciate the funny side of life when we see it?

I don’t know the answer to those questions. All I know is that I was not going to waste anymore of my time so like another couple before me I left.

CLASSIFICATION

for language, some sexuality and nudity and brief violence.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
The second rabbi Larry speaks with stirs his cup of tea then puts the spoon down on his desk and doesn’t touch it afterwards. When viewed from Larry’s perspective the spoon sits lengthwise across the desk but viewed from the rabbi’s perspective it is in the opposite direction.

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my ratings system

I've always thought that telling too much about a movie or warning someone about a "twist" at the end deprives the person the pleasure of seeing it as it unfolds, so I don’t do it. You may not always agree with my rating of course, but at least it is an unbiased opinion unlike some of the full time professional reviewers who are on the studio’s payroll.

A few movies you won’t see any review from me:

Scary movies: I’m the world’s biggest chicken and just hate getting the crap scared out of me. I can handle an unexpected door slam, that kind of thing, but a movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat…not for me. Sorry.
Movies geared to the young teen and pre-teen crowd with dialog comprising mostly of crude remarks, awful jokes and lots of rude, socially unacceptable body noises. "The Spy that Shagged Me" comes to mind. (I wonder if the kids know what the British verb to shag someone really means? They probably do; I bet you it’s the parents who haven’t a clue).
Sometimes Hollywood gets on a roll and they produce a series of movies that are all very much alike. For example movies about the CIA were very popular and so we had The Bourne Identity and Bad Company and The Sum of All Fears. They all had the same basic theme and it becomes repetitive. I will see some, but not all of them.

FYI this is my rating system:

0 stars = Terrible: so bad it’s not worth talking about; in fact, I’d pay you not to go
= Lousy: I actually got up and walked out before the end it was just that bad (no kidding)
= Not so good: thought about walking out but hung in just in case it got better (but it didn’t)
= A so-so good movie: I enjoyed it somewhat but wasn’t all that crazy about it
= A really good movie: I recommend seeing it
= An excellent movie you just got to see! I suggest you put it on your "To Do List" it’s that good.

some favourite websites

For those into it, Nitpickers at

has more movie mistakes than you could ever imagine. My contributions can be seen if you check out the Nitpickers Registry and click on the link Nitpickers Listed by Nitpicker Number, select the group 45,401 - 45,500 and drill down to number 45411. Although I have 56 nitpicks to my credit, some have almost 2,000. You wonder sometimes where they find the time to do it.