A Serious Man

A Serious Man

2-15-10

This films central characters are Jewish suburbanites circa the late 60's. Suffice to say all things that are sooo unrelated to my own background that a big part of the "novelty" was how strange everything seemed to me.  There is also something to be said for the films unique approach to humor. I say unique because I could easily see someone watching this film and not laughing once. We've collectively become so accustom to traditional comedies and their all too obvious humor. Its as if we are the studio audience of a game show or sit-com waiting for the big flashing applause sign. This is certainly not so with "A Serious Man" as most of the laughs for me were derived from the peculiarity of events and ultimately the afore mentioned unfamiliarity with the culture presented.  I'm not going to bother trying to dissect the films oblique and sometimes obvious themes and or messages.  Mostly because it seems fairly evident that the point of the film is to avoid reading to much into things...its sorta the "anti-message" message film....you know?