A Serious Man - 2010 Academy Award®: Best Picture nominee

This was an Oscar nominated movie and I didn't hear much about it. I saw the previews and it looked interesting.

The movie was interesting and the characters were developed well. However the storyline has many gaps or holes that left me disliking this movie. There was a 10-15 minute opening of a Jewish husband and wife talking about an event that leads the wife to kill her uncle because she had heard he died. So upon seeing him, she feels he is a demon or evil spirit. I don't know what type of symbolism this represents and have no idea how this relates to the rest of the movie. This may have been a cultural thing, but honestly the directors fail to make this event cohesive with the rest of the storyline.

I think all the actors from the kids to the adults did a great job portraying their characters. Even thought the beginning was disjointed, the real story that begins after that is quite interesting. The movie kept me involved all the way until the end. And just like many French movies I have seen, this film ended like they just ran out of money. This is no joke. A Serious Man seriously fails to execute on a movie that could have been great. Instead, it leaves you with a feeling of being short changed.

The Netflix community seemed to love this movie. I read their reviews and most of their reasons for liking the movie was idiotic. For example, one reviewer gave this a 4 star rating because he liked the music even though the movie was just OK at best. I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion.

Would I watch this movie again? Nope. What I recommend it to a friend? No way. Is this Oscar worthy? Absolutely not. Will it win some awards? It probably will because the Coen brothers directed this movie. LOL.

Netflix summary:

Larry Gopnik (Golden Globe nominee Michael Stuhlbarg) has hit a "rough patch," according to a colleague, and it would seem so: people are dropping dead all around him, his wife (Sari Lennick) wants a "get" and his whining kids (Aaron Wolffand Jessica McManus) only add to the heavy load. Larry is just looking for some help. Can a few rabbis guide him to life's answers? Richard Kind co-stars in Joel Coenand Ethan Coen's 1960s-set, dark Jewish-culture send-up.