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A Serious Man (Coen Brothers)

Started by CaledonianGonzo, November 20, 2009, 11:07:18 PM

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CaledonianGonzo

Blimey.

From the get go, it's excellent.  Michael Stuhlbarg is great, and it's all round fu-unny, in a way that Burn After Reading wasn't.  The Coen Brothers most Coen Brothery film since, what, The Man Who Wasn't There.  Idiomatic in all the right ways.  Walking in completely unaware of what it was meant to be, it seems to be a 20th-century US Jewish re-telling of
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The Book of Job.
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And then...what?

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A comment on those who thought that No Country For Old Men ended too suddenly?  Is the whirlwind meant to be God?   Is the neighbour supposed to be Bathsheba?  As a gentile, I laughed long and loud as the credits rolled, but I'm not 100% sure I understand why....
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Viero_Berlotti

The Metro gave it a three star review and basically said that if you loved 'last year's uproarious comedy' Burn After Reading you'd hate this. So it looks like its my kind of film then.

non capisco

Quote from: CaledonianGonzo on November 20, 2009, 11:07:18 PM
Blimey.
Walking in completely unaware of what it was meant to be, it seems to be a 20th-century US Jewish re-telling of
Spoiler alert
The Book of Job.
[close]

Yeah, that makes total sense, what with
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him seeing the naked neighbour/Bathsheba, and the whirlwind at the end just after he receives the phone call from his doctor, "God" finally speaking to Larry to tell him not to look for reasons as to why all the shit's happened to him, as there aren't any
[close]

I came out of the cinema not really knowing what the hell to make of this but the more I think about it the more I like it, especially now I'm reading more of other people's theories as to what it's about. There are some good chuckles along the way, I enjoyed Richard Fine as the mad uncle. The reviews have all gone for the angle that this is the antithesis of 'Burn After Reading' (a film I seem to have enjoyed more than a hell of a lot of people) but there are some vague thematic links. The second rabbi and his story about the dentist reminded me a lot of JK Simmons' character in 'Burn After Reading'.

Ever since all the reviews of 'Moon' basically gave half the film away I've given up reading any kind of reviews til after I've seen the film and just going to the cinema devoid of only the most basic knowledge of what I'm in for. I find that approach is reaping dividends on films like these.

Glebe

Wossy gave it a mixed review, but I've seen three 5-star rave reviews of it. I'm excited.

I thought Burn After Reading was really funny, so I guess I should give this a watch, hate it, come back and start hurling abuse. Great!

little kev


lipsink

Didn't he
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get a message near the start from his Doctor about his results that he ignored? Plus the kid his son kept trying to communicate with in class, that turned out not to be him in the end?
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little kev


Howj Begg

What did you think of 'Burn After Reading', little kev?

little kev

it was pony.

                              im not a fan tbh

JPA

Went to see this today, thought it was great, really darkly funny in places. Michael Stuhlbarg is excellent in the lead role too.

little kev


Little Hoover

Quote from: lipsink on November 22, 2009, 07:24:50 PM
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Plus the kid his son kept trying to communicate with in class, that turned out not to be him in the end?
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Spoiler alert
That left me confused, I didn't get that at all who did he think it was, why was he trying to communicate with him?
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lipsink

Quote from: Little Hoover on December 06, 2009, 01:32:39 PM
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That left me confused, I didn't get that at all who did he think it was, why was he trying to communicate with him?
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He was trying to give him the money that was in his personal radio thing wasn't he? I think he said he owed him money for pot. That was the boy who kept running out of his house to chase him wasn't it?
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JPA

I think Little Hoover's confusion (and mine too) comes from your comment
Spoiler alert
that it wasn't the person he thought he was. It was the same kid, wasn't it?
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Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: JPA on December 08, 2009, 12:18:20 PM
I think Little Hoover's confusion (and mine too) comes from your comment
Spoiler alert
that it wasn't the person he thought he was. It was the same kid, wasn't it?
[close]

Spoiler alert
Yes, it definitely, definitely was the same kid. Wasn't the point of his sudden disinterest in Larry's son that the money now seemed incredibly insignificant compared to their impending death by tornado?
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lipsink

#16
Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on December 08, 2009, 12:22:19 PM
Spoiler alert
Yes, it definitely, definitely was the same kid. Wasn't the point of his sudden disinterest in Larry's son that the money now seemed incredibly insignificant compared to their impending death by tornado?
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Spoiler alert
Ah, I thought that might be the case. It was just the look on the son's face when the boy turned around. He seemed shocked or surprised and we hadn't really seen that kid's face before just the back of his head and from afar.
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I've been watching the Coens' stuff again after this. Watched 'Man Who Wasn't There' and 'Fargo' over the weekend. I can't watch 'Big Lebowski' ever again because I've basically worn it out from watching it a million trillion times, I'm so sick of it.

I'm also getting the 'Fargo'/Miller's Crossing'/Raising Arizona' boxset for Xmas. I've already got the 'Big Lebowski'/Barton Fink'/'Blood Simple'/'Hudsucker Proxy' boxset. If only they'd release a nice little 'O Brother Where Art Thou'/Man Who Wasn't There'/'No Country For Old Men'/'A Serious Man' boxset I'd have all their best films in nice boxsets.

What's everyone's favourite Coen Bros film then? I think at the minute it's 'The Big Lebowski' or 'No Country For Old Men'. Fortunately I can still watch the latter and still be freshly blown away by its brilliance. I also think it really captures the contrast of smalltown "aw shucks" people facing absolute ghostly evil much more strikingly than 'Fargo' did.

rjd2

Literally just watched Fargo for the first time in yonks and I genuinely forget how terrifyingly evil Peter Stormare's character is, which I suppose is easy to slip by when stuck with the buffoonery that is Buscemi's character.

lipsink

I watched it again recently and it's brilliant how effortlessly it goes from comedy to horror. Peter Stormare's character is great because he is a bit of a clown that you forget how evil he is until he shows you.