A Serious Man (2009)
Comedy, Drama |.
A Serious Man is a black comedy-drama film written, produced, edited and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Set in 1967, the film stars Michael Stuhlbarg as a Minnesota Jewish man whose life crumbles both professionally and personally, leading him to questions about his faith.
The film attracted a positive critical response, including a Golden Globe Award nomination for Stuhlbarg, a place on both the American Film Institute’s and National Board of Review’s Top 10 Film Lists of 2009, and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
In a prologue, a Jewish man in an unnamed 19th-century Eastern European shtetl tells his wife that he was helped on his way home by Reb Groshkover, whom he has invited in for soup. She says Groshkover is dead and the man he invited must be a dybbuk. Groshkover arrives and laughs off the accusation, but she plunges an ice pick into his chest. Bleeding, he exits their home into the snowy night.
In 1967, Larry Gopnik is a professor of physics living in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. His wife, Judith, tells him that she needs a get so she can marry widower Sy Ableman, with whom she has fallen in love. Meanwhile, their son Danny owes twenty dollars to an intimidating Hebrew school classmate for marijuana. He has the money, but it is hidden in a transistor radio that was confiscated by his teacher. Daughter Sarah is always washing her hair and going out.
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Writers: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Stars: Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Fred Melamed, Sari Lennick, Aaron Wolff, Jessica McManus, Peter Breitmayer
►Cast:
| Michael Stuhlbarg | … | Larry Gopnik |
| Richard Kind | … | Uncle Arthur |
| Fred Melamed | … | Sy Ableman |
| Sari Lennick | … | Judith Gopnik |
| Aaron Wolff | … | Danny Gopnik |
| Jessica McManus | … | Sarah Gopnik |
| Peter Breitmayer | … | Mr. Brandt |
| Brent Braunschweig | … | Mitch Brandt |
| David Kang | … | Clive Park |
| Benjamin Portnoe | … | Danny’s Reefer Buddy |
| Jack Swiler | … | Boy on Bus |
| Andrew S. Lentz | … | Cursing Boy on Bus |
| Jon Kaminski Jr. | … | Mike Fagle |
| Ari Hoptman | … | Arlen Finkle |
| Alan Mandell | … | Rabbi Marshak |
| Amy Landecker | … | Mrs. Samsky |
| George Wyner | … | Rabbi Nachtner |
| Michael Tezla | … | Dr. Sussman |
| Katherine Borowitz | … | Friend at the Picnic |
| Steve Park | … | Clive’s Father (as Stephen Park) |
| Allen Lewis Rickman | … | Shtetl Husband |
| Yelena Shmulenson | … | Shtetl Wife |
| Fyvush Finkel | … | Dybbuk? |
| Ronald Schultz | … | Hebrew School Teacher |
| Raye Birk | … | Dr. Shapiro |
| Jane Hammill | … | Larry’s Secretary |
| Claudia Wilkens | … | Marshak’s Secretary |
| Simon Helberg | … | Rabbi Scott |
| Adam Arkin | … | Divorce Lawyer |
| James Cada | … | Cop #1 (as Jim Cada) |
| Michael Lerner | … | Solomon Schlutz |
| Charles Brin | … | Hebrew School Principal |
| Michael Engel | … | Torah Blesser |
| Tyson Bidner | … | Magbiah |
| Phyllis Harris | … | Hebrew School Tea Lady |
| Piper Sigel-Bruse | … | D’vorah (as Piper Sigel Bruse) |
| Hannah Nemer | … | Sarah’s Friend |
| Rita Vassallo | … | Law Firm Secretary |
| Warren Keith | … | Dick Dutton (voice) |
| Neil Newman | … | Cantor |
| Tim Russell | … | Detective #1 |
| Jim Lichtscheidl | … | Detective #2 |
| Wayne A. Evenson | … | Russell Krauss |
| Scott Thompson Baker | … | Sci-Fi Movie Hero |
| Landyn Banx | … | Physics Student |
| Alana Bloom | … | Physics Student |
| Stephanie Bright | … | Physics Student |
| Rita Cannon | … | Physics Student |
| Matt Cici | … | Physics Student |
| David Cohen | … | Bar Mitzvah Guest |
| Amanda Day | … | Physics Student |
| Devon A Early | … | Physics Student |
| John Edel | … | 1960s Beach Party Attendee |
| Jon Foss | … | Physics Student |
| Arne Gjelten | … | Physics Student |
| Rachel Grubb | … | Bar Mitzvah Guest |
| Sherilyn Henderson | … | Neighborhood Kid |
| Leon Hiland | … | Physics Student |
| Punnavith Koy | … | Physics Nerd |
| Andy Rocco Kraft | … | Physics Nerd |
| Nicole Kruex | … | Physics Student |
| Katherine Loudenslager | … | Hostess |
| Tammara Melloy | … | Mom on the beach |
| Lauri Mueller | … | Bar Mitzvah and Funeral Guest |
| Helen Murray | … | Grocery Store Patron |
| Lisa Pechmiller | … | Bar Mitzvah Guest |
| Asher Pink | … | Bar Mitzvah Guest |
| Molly Elizabeth Ring | … | Girl at Beach |
| Lisa-Lou Rosenberg | … | Bar Mitzvah and Funeral Guest |
| Ethan Tarshish | … | Bar Mitzvah Guest |
| Benjamin Terry | … | College student |
| Joel Thingvall | … | Bar Mitzvah Guest |
| Luke Weber | … | Student |
| Steven Wothe | … | Bar Mitzvah and Funeral Guest |
Sources: imdb & wikipedia