The film A Serious Man concerns itself with the details of a middle aged American life (circa 1967). Directed by the Coen brothers, the film offers its audience the standard Coen dry humor. The main character, Larry, a Jewish physics professor, suffers from a divorce, funeral, disobedient teenagers, work problems with tenure and misbehaving students, and a sick brother (I think that's all...). Larry searches for advice from friends and rabbis, trying to deal with his life as it continues to devolve. Like the rest of us, Larry can't seem to catch a break and all the metaphorical shit hits the fan simultaneously. The Coen brothers never give the audience quite what it expects, subverting our expectations. It would be easy to be frustrated with the film's inconclusive ending and walk away unsatisfied. The end can also be read as an attempt to break the audience of its desire for neatly answered, tied up endings, for stories that are coherent with happy endings rather than reflecting the world we live in and life as we experience it.
A Serious Man offers a glimpse of the rarity and humor in everyday life and breakdowns, and in purposely failing to give us the ending we want, reminds us that the best part of life is that we don't know what's coming next, but we are seemingly always blessed with second chances.
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