A Serious Man (2009)

The Coens deliver a cheeky, personal dark comedy about frustration and life's haphazardness. It balances nihilism with belly laughs and humane performances in a lean, Jewish-American tale.

A sincere, precisely realised exploration of unjust suffering and faith in a Jewish Minnesota suburb. Stuhlbarg's bewildered lead anchors a film that embraces life's unfairness without nihilism.

The critic calls it a sublime, intelligent serio-comedy that deftly balances bright comedy and bitter darkness. He singles out the film's woozy, hallucinatory tone and the way it evokes an epiphany for the protagonist amid personal chaos.

The Coens deliver their bleakest comedy, blending condescension and compassion as they torment their everyman protagonist with absurd misfortunes while burrowing into his pain. The film is lauded for its human dimension, personal resonance, and grave investigation of mystery and meaning.

The Coens seize post-Oscar freedom for their most personal, intensely Jewish film, a pitch-perfect comedy of despair about a suburban professor’s Job-like woes. Turan praises its universal resonance, filmmaking skill, and ability to be both site-specific and broadly relatable.

The Coen brothers deliver a labor of love reimagining the Book of Job in a 1960s Minneapolis suburb, centering on a hapless physics professor whose life unravels through relentless absurd misfortunes. Ebert praises the rich, wince-inducing comedy, the perfectly cast unfamiliar actors, and Michael Stuhlbarg’s hopeful everyman performance.

The Coens produce a vigorously felt dark comedy that ranks with their finest, mining their ethnic roots with emotional specificity. Stuhlbarg's anxious performance and witty script highlight the film's mordant tone and production values.

The critic describes it as a darkly tragi-comic fable of a suburban Job and one of the Coens' most personal and best films. She singles out the nimble handling of faith, family, academia and Judaism in the late-1960s Midwest setting.

The Coens craft a mordant, personal comedy of Jewish suburban angst that questions divine intent and the meaning of suffering through a Job-like professor’s trials. Scott highlights its philosophical depth, precise filmmaking, and blend of the absurd with the universal.

The film is a very funny, bitterly resentful comedy about midlife angst and the search for clarity amid absurd crises, mixing parody with realism in its portrayal of rabbis, family and society. It raises serious questions about negotiating life's pitfalls without providing easy answers.

The Coens' most personal and Jewish film to date is a starless black comedy full of mystery, intrigue and rich language that rewards fans, with exemplary handling of the protagonist's descent and a lovable lead. It frustrates by opting for quick gags over deeper emotional engagement in its personal material.

This small, personal Coen project about Jewish life in 1967 suburban Minnesota puts its characters through the wringer in peculiarly funny ways. McCarthy notes the tart, mordant comedy, precise craft, and quasi-autobiographical tone, while observing it may discomfort some with its Jewish caricature elements.

The film mixes empathetic realism with the Coens' signature mockery in a suburban 1960s Jewish setting. It offers a personal, absurdist take on unjust suffering but risks condescension through broad caricatures.

The critic finds the Coens' touted 'personal' film mirthless and alienating despite verbal quirks, with a narrow emotional range and refusal to seek meaning. Larry's Job-like misfortunes highlight the directors' indifferent, futile worldview rather than any affection for the era or faith.

The Coens’ bleak, black comedy about a put-upon Jewish professor in 1960s Minnesota is hell to sit through despite its craft. Denby singles out the distant, shriveling humor and unappealing characters for complaint while noting the film’s fascinating technique.

A suburban dysfunctional-family drama-cum-metaphysical mystery about rationalism versus faith, it stands out as the Coens' most human and relatable film thanks to strong non-star casting and Michael Stuhlbarg's grounded lead performance. Admirably low-key, deeply compelling and their warmest movie since Fargo.

The Coens have made a serious yet funny film about God, suffering, and meaning in a 1960s Midwestern Jewish community, centering on a physics professor enduring endless misfortunes. The critic praises the period details and Roger Deakins' spiritually bleak cinematography but notes it may limit commercial appeal.

The Coen Brothers' film is one of the best of the year, a dark, funny and mesmeric work that balances bleakness with comedy in masterful fashion. It stands out for its ensemble performances, particularly Michael Stuhlbarg as the beleaguered Larry and Fred Melamed as the overbearing Sy Ableman, along with its precise ear for suburban dialogue and sense of dread.

The Coens deliver their most difficult film since Barton Fink, a rich and thoughtful examination of uncertainty, Judaism in modernity, and the value of decency that rewards repeated viewing and discussion. The critic singles out the dark comedy, supporting characters, Roger Deakins' cinematography, Carter Burwell's score, and the editing as elements that make the film distinctly Coen.

A brilliant dark comedy and masterful character study of a family in crisis, comparable to Election, with great performances and an ending that lingers. The reviewer's favorite Coen Brothers film of the last decade.

The critic praises the Coens' darkly observed humor as a philosophical lens on human existence in "A Serious Man," a quasi-autobiographical satire set in 1960s Minnesota. They single out the film's surprising narrative turns and unflinching American vision for praise over more optimistic filmmaking styles.

A fine example of the Coens' uniquely offbeat cinema, with eccentric credible characters, superb screenplay and performances, and a grounded recreation of period and place. It offers deadpan dark humour, laugh-out-loud moments and no easy answers, making for an enjoyable rewarding experience.

The Coen brothers' darkest and most personal film to date, a rich esoteric work of impeccable detail and cruel laughs set in 1960s Jewish-American suburbia. It excels in memorable characters and oddness that elevates the story of meaningless adversity.

The Coens sidestep midlife crisis pitfalls to enrich the story with deep philosophical and spiritual questions; universally great performances, especially Stuhlbarg as a hapless yet not passive everyman figure. It builds with weird absurd elements and strong casting while remaining thoughtful rather than wacky.