As someone who's gone to a Jewish day school for 13 years, this movie is hysterical, letting me understand a lot of subtle jokes, like when Danny reaches for his head while running in the wind for his Yamaka, and other really true Jewish stereotypes which may be more subtle to those watching the movie who are not Jewish. But seriously, you do not have to be Jewish to appreciate and enjoy this film. The main family is Jewish, but the movie as a whole is making a statement about religion and the concept of God as a whole (I happen to be an atheist by the way even though I've gone to Jewish day school). Anyone who can appreciate the concept of religion and faith will get a lot out of A Serious Man. Being honest, I'm the kind of person who when I hear something is about religion, I go into it thinking it's going to be boring, and it's going to be attempting to hypnotize me or something. Yet this movie is very different. Remember, it's directed by the Coen Brothers. They make movies about crime, and violence, not "Praise the Lord" crazy religious propaganda. The plot of the movie also revolves a lot about the idea of karma, and why do bad things happen to good things. The movie relies on the idea that there is a god, and not just any god, but a god who really couldn't care less about you, and is ready to let you die at a finger snap. The movie is full of quick turns of good and bad in the life of Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg), establishing the point that God will just do what he wants, and even the slightest wrongdoing may make him choose it's time for you to die. As a whole, I really enjoyed this movie. I thought it had a really good idea behind it, and love bringing the Coen Brothers style in on a movie about religion. Although the movie could have brought some more explanations to it about why Sy Ableman's name makes everyone gasp, and the ending could have gone a bit more in depth, and parts of it were a bit to vague for my liking. But putting that aside, A Serious Man is definitely a movie I'd recommend.

I tried a lot to not sleep, but I failed after one hour. What was that stupid schroedinger's cat thing?Three stars just for Michael Stuhlbarg act.

Sorry, but I grew up in MN, and there were never this many Jews in the state. Don't know why it had to be Jewish, since they only make up less than 1% of the entire population of the whole country.

What could be said about this film that hasn't been poured over by film geeks already? The absurdist humor that fills each scene serves as a double for the exploration of life as a whole. After an interesting, albeit unrelated prologue we are introduced to a protagonist whose life is soon to be turned upside down when his wife asks for a divorce, both legally and religiously, so that she may marry a man whom with she may or may not be having an affair. He's up for tenure and the review board is receiving obscene letters in an attempt to damage his character. There's many factors at play, slowly working on him that act as cathartic humor to release the tensions of our own existential angst by seeing someone else go through all of the worst first world problems that a middle aged white man could go through in a lifetime. Definitely a must see for anyone that enjoys laughing at uncomfortable situations.