A Serious Man December 30, 2009

Directed By Joel and Ethan CoenA Serious Man is the story of an ordinary mans search for clarity in a universe where Jefferson Airplane is on the radio and F-Troop is on TV. In 1967, Larry Gopnik, a physics professor at a quiet Midwestern university, was just informed by his wife Judith that she is leaving him for one of his more pompous acquaintances, Sy Ableman, who seems to be a more substantial person than the incompetent Larry.Meanwhile, Larrys unemployable brother Arthur is sleeping on the couch, his son Danny is a discipline problem and a shirker at Hebrew school, and his daughter Sarah is filching money from his wallet in order to save up for a nose job.While his wife and Sy Ableman blithely make new domestic arrangements and his brother becomes more and more of a burden, an anonymous hostile letter-writer is trying to sabotage Larrys chances for tenure at the university. Also, a graduate student seems to be trying to bribe him for a passing grade while at the same time threatening to sue him for defamation. Plus, the beautiful woman next door torments him by sunbathing nude. Struggling for equilibrium, Larry seeks advice from three different rabbis. Can anyone help him cope with his afflictions and become a righteous person a serious man?