A SERIOUS MAN (USA 2009) ***** Top 10
Directed by Ethan and Joel Coen

A SERIOUS MAN plays very much like the Coen Brothers last two movies, from the abrupt ending (NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN) to the sequence of unrelated life events that make no sense in the realm of things (BURN AFTER READING).  In A SERIOUS MAN, the protagonist is one, trying to make sense of the craziness that is going on around him. 

The most important element in his life right then is his tenure professorship.  Never mind his wife (Sari Lennick) is having an affair with his good friend, his brother is getting into trouble with the law or his children sidetracked from school. 

Reading between the lines (or frames), the most hilarious thing about the film is that the main character, Larry Gopnik (Played by unknown Michael Stuhlbarg) goes all out into finding the reason behind all of his problems instead of hunting for solutions.  As a result, the problems escalate to enormous proportions.

The casting is as black as the film’s plot.  Richard Kind, often in kid films is cast as Uncle Arthur, a kid like figure while Larry’s wife’s lover Sy (Fred Melamed) is completely physically unattractive.

A SERIOUS MAN reminds one of Quentin Tarantino’s INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS in which the director makes the movie he wants and everyone else who disagrees can just f*** off.  A SERIOUS MAN is absolutely absorbing, terribly funny in the Coen Brothers sort of way and incredibly imaginative.  The fact the characters (most of whom are played by relative unknowns) speak Hebrew and Yiddish illustrate, as in the Tarantino movie, that great directors put a lot of detail and research into the language of their movies.
Warning: Humour is extremely dead-pan.