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A Serious Man

The 21st Century’s 100 greatest films (BBC)

6.1

22,942

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Original title: A Serious Man
Year: 2009
Running time: 105 min.
Country: United States
Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Screenwriter: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Music: Carter Burwell
Cinematography: Roger Deakins
Cast: Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Fred Melamed, Sari Lennick, Adam Arkin, Aaron Wolff, Jessica McManus, Simon Helberg, George Wyner, Fyvush Finkel
Producer: Focus Features, Working Title Films
Genre: Comedy. Drama | Religion. Education. 1960s. Black Comedy. Comedy-Drama
Synopsis: A black comedy set in 1967 and centered on on Larry Gopnik (Stuhlbarg), a Midwestern professor who watches his life unravel when his wife prepares to leave him because his inept brother (Kind) won't move out of the house.

Awards: 2009: 2 Nominations for Academy Awards: Best Movie, Original Screenplay

2009: Nominated for Golden Globe: Best Actor Comedy (Michael Stuhlbarg)

2009: Nominated BAFTA Awards: Original Screenplay

2009: National Board of Review: Best Screenplay - Original

2009: Critics' Choice Awards: 2 Nominations for Best Picture & Original Screenplay

2009: Independent Spirit Awards: Best Cinematography, Award Robert Altman. 3 Nominations

Show 8 more awards

2009: Satellite Awards: Best Actor Comedy (Michael Stuhlbarg)

2009: American Film Institute (AFI): Top 10 - Movies of the Year

2009: New York Film Critics Circle: Nominated for Best Cinematography

2009: San Francisco Film Critics Circle: Best Cinematography

2009: Chicago Film Critics Awards: 4 Nominations including Best Picture

2009: Boston Society of Film Critics Awards: Best Screenplay. 5 Nominations

2009: Writers Guild of America (WGA): Nominated for Best Original Screenplay

2009: David di Donatello Awards: Nominated for Best Foreign Film

Critics' reviews

"'A Serious Man' isn’t perfect but it’s cathartic to see the Coens finally show you a bit of who they are, or at least where they came from."

Owen Gleiberman: Entertainment Weekly
"This is the kind of picture you get to make after you've won an Oscar"

Todd McCarthy: Variety
"A dark comedy with a pervasive sense of unease (...) Underlying the grim humor are serious questions about faith, family, mortality and misfortune."

Claudia Puig: USA Today
"The movie is funny, definitely funny. But underlying the humor is a vision so bleak, so despairing and so utterly hopeless as to make 'No Country for Old Men' almost look cheerful"

Mick LaSalle: SFGATE
"Rich and funny (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of four)"

Roger Ebert: Chicago Sun-Times
"If you’re expecting something warm and fuzzy, circa 1967, you don’t know the Coens (...) This seriously funny movie (...) is spiritual in nature, barbed in tone, and, oh, yeah, it stings like hell (...) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)"

Peter Travers: Rolling Stone
"A tart, brilliantly acted fable of life’s little cosmic difficulties, a Coen brothers comedy with a darker philosophical outlook than 'No Country for Old Men'"

Michael Phillips: Chicago Tribune
"Deftly balancing bright comedy and bitter darkness, the Coens have come up with another uncomfortable masterpiece about a fraternal duo (...) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"

Peter Bradshaw: The Guardian

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Ranking Lists Position

34 My Top 10 Movies from 2009 (141)

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