My review - A Serious Man

1. What is the title of the film? A Serious Man

2. Who are the main actors in the film and what roles do they play?

Micheal Sthulbarg plays the main character, the father of the family. His wife is played by Sari Lennick, who plans to get married with Fred Melamed. Their unruly child is played by Aaron Wolff.

3. Who directed the film?

The Coen brothers: Joel and Ethan Coen

4. Who wrote the screenplay? (Is it original or adapted?)

Joel and Ethan Coen, it is original.

5. Is this film like any other you have seen? If so, what film is it like?

I have never seen a movie like this before. Indeed, the plot is so pathetic that it becomes funny, it is black humour. The characters are so unique, it is hard to believe that the story could ever happen to anybody.

6. Who are the main characters in the story?

The main character is a Larry, a physics teacher. The story is mostly about his family: his wife Judith who plans to remarry Sy (Larry's supossedly good friend), his son Danny who's more busy smoking pot than getting ready for his Bar Mitsva, and his daughter Sarah, obessed with getting a nose job. They also live with Larry's brother Arthur, who lives on the couch because of his gambling addiction.

7. What is the setting?

The story takes place in a quiet Jewish neighboorhood in the Midwestern of the Unites States.

8. What is the film about? Summarize the story (without the ending) in no more than five sentences. Remember that your readers want to know enough about the film to make a decision about going to see it, but not so much that there`s no need to go.

It is the story of a physics teacher who is also the father of a complex jewish family in which everything is falling apart. He learns that his wife is leaving him for one of his good friends, while he has problems at work and is forced to take care of the whole divorce. We can also see his distress through the many discipline problems he has with his children, especially his son who is always smoking pot instead of doing his religious duty.

9. What is your opinion of the actors and the acting?

The actors did a wonderful job. Indeed, the main character, the jewish teacher was so realistic we could easily feel his pain. The acting was so good that be could laugh anytime, even in the worse situations.

10. Do you recommend this film? If so, what sort of people will enjoy seeing it?

I would recommend this film only for real amateurs of cinema. It is not the kind of movie you would usually watch to entertain yourself. It is so different and shoking that you can't stay indefferent. Either you like it or you hate it. It makes you think afterwards, it is not the kind of movie you would watch without paying attention to all the details.

11. What star rating do you give this film? (****= excellent, ***= better than most, ** = average, * = below average, no stars = poor.

***

12. How many nominations for Oscar does the film have?

A Serious Man is nominated for 2 Oscars: Best motion picture of the year and Best screenplay.

13. What chances do you give it to win the Oscar as best film? To win other Oscars?

In my opinion, I don't think A Serious Man has good chances in winning Best picture, because of the other movies nominated that seem better, but the Coen brothers could definately win best screenplay since the plot is so unique. Also, they have won best picture two years ago for their movie No Country for Old men, the critrics like them.