Joel and Ethan Coen, 2009
Larry Gopnick's (Michael Stuhlbarg) life falls apart in a myriad of hilarious fascinating ways, including blackmail, drugs, divorce, and a tornado (sort of).Not my favorite of this year's best picture nominees (that would be Up), but damn close. A Serious Man continues the Coens's comeback streak after their mid-decade slump, and is probably the best of the three newest works (the other two being No Country for Old Men and Burn After Reading). It's a thoroughly depressing story, told in a ridiculously hilarious way. Everything that happens to Larry is horribly painful, but it's too funny to really hurt. This is all embodied particularly well by Fred Melamed's performance as Sy Abelman, who is stealing Larry's wife away from him. With the demeanor of a self-help guru on Quaaludes, he spends more time trying (in a very awkward way) to help Larry though this oh-so-troubling time. His bizarre speech patterns and uncomfortably extended physical interactions easily steal the show out from under everyone else.
8.5/10
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