The film follows Larry through this tumultuous period in his life. As the trials facing him become increasingly insurmountable, Larry decides to meet with three different rabbis. Each one of them gives him very different advice on how to achieve that status he covets so much of becoming a serious man.
A featurette called “Becoming Serious” offers nice insight into the vision behind the film. It explains how personal this movie is for the Coens. “Creating 1967” shows how the production was able to faithfully recreate the time period. The filmmakers' attention to detail is admirable. “Hebrew and Yiddish for Goys” defines some of the many Hebrew and Yiddish terms and used in the movie. The special features are good but not outstanding. They are certainly worth a watch but pretty standard fare.
A Serious Man is not for everyone. Slowly paced and dialogue-driven, this movie is fairly galvanizing. I know people who have appreciated it and thoroughly enjoyed all of the religious metaphors, while others have decried it as a complete waste of time. The ending may surprise you, but I encourage giving this movie a watch and deciding for yourself what you think about it.
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