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Showing all 33 reviews...
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The Coen Brothers never disappoint. You can't say that," this is the best movie they've made in awhile" because they continuously make excellent films and stay true to their style. This film is soo good in soo many ways that words would only underrate it's true power. One of the year's best best films.
10/10
11.12.2009 -
polish_freak69@ - age: 18-25
An often funny, bittersweet movie that makes you wonder about the (in)significance of life. This is a thinking film, not a plot-oriented movie. I would recommend reading the concept of Schrödinger's cat (see wikipedia) beforehand.
8/10
7.12.2009 -
coffeespoons@ - age: 36-49
Typical Coen fare: quirky, unexpected, funny! We loved it!
8/10
4.12.2009 -
kit_catou@ - age: 36-49
Pointless, and not funny! Waste of time and money.
2/10
2.12.2009 -
alakipalaki@ - age: 26-35
I'm am still outraged that I wasted 2 hours of my life on this crap. As I watched numerous people walk out the theather I only stayed hoping that the plot holes would fill and it would all make sense eventually. The end of the movie made no sense and I was not alone in swearing out loud in digust at my unresoloved frustration. I think the coen brothers attemtempted to make the worst movie possible only to see how much money it would make. The joke is on us and the coen brothers are the only ones laughing.
1/10
2.12.2009 -
goodoldultraviolence@ - age: 18-25
I should have walked out and asked for my money back. Instead I sat in the dark and endured this train wreck of a movie. It was dull, pointless and so not funny.
1/10
30.11.2009 -
mrdrknight@ - age: 36-49
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The genius Cohen Brothers are back to dazzle us one more time, a kiss to both of them :) With Michael Stuhlbarg in the lead role (looking real nerdy in this movie but he is actually a very handsome man) I started laughing from the first scene cause I remembered the style of the 2 brothers in their movies. They magnifiy/caricature by a 10000 human interactions. Even a “hello” or “have a good day” sounds different in a Cohen movie. In their caricature, I guess, they try to show us how absurd every day interactions are. For example, when the wife of the lead actor tells him “see, you don’t listen to me, you just think about yourself”. And it’s her that was not shutting up! This movie will speak to anyone who has had a break up with a girlfriend or a wife, has had unclear messages from the boss, an administrative institution not comprehending his claims (in the movie, the lead role asks to speak to the head Jewish priest and they send him in all sorts of directions or just give him a blank look and it was hilarious, you just got to see it!) From my part it lifted my spirits cause I realize the movie was about a soul search (something I needed to do, a cleaning up I needed to do in my life but was not realizing it) The Cohen use the atmosphere of the late 60s (to give it color) and set in a Jewish Community (to give the story a context), but these 2 elements are not at all the purpose of the movie, just stuff the Cohens are very familiar with, they knew they could use to throw on it all their artistic black humour. It could have very well been a Catholic, a Muslim, or an Atheist family, they would have just as well done a good job at it. Lastly, I felt the Cohen were sending a wake up call to all those who wish to lead a non-troubled boring life and asking them instead to go look for answers with the priest, but also in weirder places, like if they have a semi-psychotic brother they never paid attention to (like in the movie), and with a sexy neighbour (like in the movie), and shake things up a bit, they will be happier as a result, or at least become more aware of what is going on around them :) Don’t miss this genius work or any other Cohen work from here on!
10/10
28.11.2009 -
toutayti@ - age: 26-35
In the great tradition of the Cohen brothers, they have awesome caracters. But the story goes nowhere and I could not begin to care for the main caracter. The story just piles up on the stereotypes. As soon as the credits rolled I had forgotten all about it.
5/10
24.11.2009 -
zab42@ - age: 36-49
If you like jewish humor like Seinfeld, Woody Allen and Curb your enthusiasm... Don't miss it. Very funny.
8/10
18.11.2009 -
buffalopat71@ - age: 36-49
The first time I have really laughed spontaneously from the bottom of my belly in a long long time. So very good.
9/10
17.11.2009 -
chefjojo@
Maybe not the Coen's best movie, but definitely a good one. If you like their style, you will not be deceived.
8/10
16.11.2009 -
meriem,rebbani@ - age: 18-25
Another mitzvah from the Coens. What does it mean? Answer that and answer everything.
9/10
16.11.2009 -
kafka80@ - age: 18-25
This was the worst movie I have seen in a very long time! I almost walked out but stayed to give it a chance. In hindsight I wish I had and asked for my money back. Everyone I went with felt the same. Please save your money and avoid this film.
1/10
15.11.2009 -
alibrough@ - age: 26-35
Not quite in the same league as some of their classics, but still, it IS a Coen brothers movie. It's loaded with interesting and quirky characters, the humor is subtle and well paced and the dialog well scripted. If you don't love this movie immediately after leaving the theater, I guarantee you will at least like it after having had a day or two to think about it.
7/10
15.11.2009 -
shaunmcleod@ - age: 36-49
I don't mind a cliff hanger for an ending, but this was ridiculous!! I say rent it.
5/10
14.11.2009 -
andrea_clarke@ - age: 26-35
Certainly one of the most wierdiest movies I have seen. Some really funny parts in it.
8/10
11.11.2009 -
johnsheridanc@ - age: 26-35
Intelligent direction, realistic acting, mind blowing witt, unique ideas, no cliches, and very puzzling and engaging. A MUST see for the Intelligent and the Humourous.
10/10
9.11.2009 -
anemon66@ - age: 18-25
I am one of those who agreed with the positive comments regarding this film. The film is Absurdist rather than Slapstick so the laughs were saved until the performance was over and we were reviewing the events as we recalled them. Will see it again.
9/10
8.11.2009 -
m,j,brown@
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I usually appreciate, not love, Coen brothers films because they're quirky. This one is silly, meaningless (to me, at least and I am jewish but offended by this caricature of jewish life) intermittently funny, mostly not, stretched beyond any belief but not crazy enough either. In a word, or two or three, don't go there if you have any saechel; the yddisch foreplay is the only interesting part and yet it has no connection with the movie itself unless one believes in Dibbuks.
4/10
4.11.2009 -
eogerstein@ - age: 50+
Excellent film. Beautifully constructed. Each scene a superbly crafted vignette, is part of a brilliant tragic comic whole. Darkly funny. I was mesmerized and laughed throughout it.
10/10
4.11.2009 -
minkwest@ - age: 26-35
This movie grew on me, even after I left the theatre. The ironies are many and sometimes so subtle you almost miss them. You have to have your brain engine firing on all cylinders for this one. Also - the humour is an acquired taste. I remember seeing one of the Coen brothers' first films - Raising Arizona - and noticing that not many people really enjoyed it. This one's the same: lots of dry and dark laughter here almost from beginning to end. Like the first reviewer, I'm going back to see it a second time. I have to: I know there's some stuff that I missed. P. S. One reviewer up there said you have to be a Jew to enjoy this film. That comment is ridiculous. I'm not Jewish and I just enjoyed the heck out of this film.
9/10
1.11.2009 -
wolfshades@ - age: 50+
Excellent picture with one of most beautiful, and thought provoking ending ive ever seen. I can't stop thinking of a serious man and will return for a second viewing.
10/10
28.10.2009 -
claudio_delisi@ - age: 18-25
I usually like Coen brothers films but this time they disappointed me. Call me stupid but I have the impression that all those rave reviews from the critics are just because they were afraid to admit they didn't understand it. The plot was nice, the actors were good but something was missing... In a few words, yeah it's ok but I wouldn't watch it again...
5/10
27.10.2009 -
ougabouga2002@ - age: 18-25
The Book of Job, sort of, with a dose of Jefferson Airplane, and a smarter script than we've seen in ages, this really is a marvelous, funny, melancholy film. Richard Kind is amazing in a supporting role.
9/10
25.10.2009 -
darkthirty@ - age: 36-49
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I think the people that like this movie are afraid not to like it. It's a kooky movie, and it's aiming for something a bit more high-brow than your normal Ben Stiller/Owen Wilson fare. Yet for this reason I feel that this movie fails on a lot of levels. It's not that intellectual, the characters are not as deep and demented as the Coen brothers would like you to think that they are (if you disagree, think of the wife's new boyfriend... were there really any levels to his performance or was it the same hugging lovable guy in every scene?) I'm amazed at the critics ratings of this review, mostly A's across the board, probably because they don't want to look like they're not hip and don't "get" a "serious" comedy. That being said, my friends liked it.
3/10
24.10.2009 -
paulconstable@ - age: 36-49
This movie was pretty mediocre. I think it also does a disservice to the Jewish religion, portraying complex issues developed from the creation of monotheism and millenia of persecution as melodrama. Not bad, though, for realizing how sad it is to live in the uber-suburbs circa the 60's from which the Coen brothers spawned.
6/10
20.10.2009 -
jon@ - age: 26-35
This is a philosophic film. The characters are funny, hilarious and well etched. Do not expect the fast, pacy wit that you expect from comedians like Vince Vaughn or Jim Carrey. It is a comedy of ironies when simple men suffer at the cost of louder, more aggressive people around him. It is comic because people are absurd in their ways and they can make the others' life worse by what they do. Another important statement made in this film is that of religion and how much it can stretch a common, serious man. This is a classic comedy film. You have to acquire a taste for dark comedy to love this movie.
9/10
20.10.2009 -
abyabzy@ - age: 26-35
Not their best but very enjoyable, loved every minute.
8/10
20.10.2009 -
richard,bastien2@ - age: 50+
A movie only for Jews that like to laugh at Jews and not really for anyone else. A racist film that leaves you feeling ripped off and bad.
1/10
20.10.2009 -
hammer@ - age: 36-49
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[ATTENTION: This review reveals content of the movie.]
You dont have to be a Jew to appreciate Joel and Ethan Coen's latest depiction of their own universe. Larry Gopnick is seriously a serious man, looking for the meaning of life when bad things pile up around him. Two weeks to go until his son's Barmitzvah; his wife wants to get a divorce - or a get - so she can remarry with a friend of the family; his brother, who sleeps on the couch, has problem with authorities; a Korean student tries to bribe him; one neighbor looks like a psychopath and the other is a sexy sex-addict. He has to ask Rabbis to figure all of this out. The Coens's vision in A Serious Man is similar to the one in Fargo, in the way that it's a caricature, but never makes fun. The prologue is actually very interesting, its all in Yiddish, very effective, and funny. One thing that makes this film work even better is the casting, mostly unknowns by the general movie-going public. Michael Stuhlbarg in the lead is terrific, always on the edge of exploding in anger but keeping it all inside and being a sweet man. Behind all this craziness hides a more profound meaning. Another very good film from the Coen brothers.
8/10
20.10.2009 -
infamoushug0@ - age: 26-35
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This movies sucks! Period. I went to see it because of the Coen name, but It's absolutely rubish. The story is boring and empty. There is nothing special. This is the first time I write a review and I'm doing it because I felt I wasted my money for nothing.
2/10
19.10.2009 -
montain8000000@ - age: 18-25
I love the Coen brothers, but this is self-indulgent and pointless. Which is the point, because it's a movie about life not having a point. Don't bother seeing it unless you're a Coen brothers diehard.
5/10
17.10.2009 -
filmgirl2007@ - age: 26-35
Wow. The Coens have done it again. Brave movie, and so funny on so many levels. Enjoy.
10/10
16.10.2009 -
ltoth@ - age: 50+
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