February 10, 2010 THE VILLADOM TIMES II & IV • Page 19 Coen film addresses moral and intellectual hang-ups by Dennis Seuling “A Serious Man” (Universal Home Entertainment) is an original. Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen (“No Country for Old Men”), the film focuses on an Everyman named Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg), a physics professor at a Midwestern university where he will soon learn if he will receive tenure. The year is 1967, and Larry is in for some unexpected troubles. His wife (Sari Lennick) is leaving him for best friend Sy Ableman (Fred Melamed). His unemployed brother (Richard Kind) is becoming more and more of a burden. His son, Danny (Aaron Wolff), is secretly listening to rock music at Hebrew school rather than learning the Torah. The alluring woman next door sunbathes nude. Larry elicits sympathy because he is a decent guy bombarded by a series of incidents that lead him to wonder why God has singled him out for “tsouris.” Distraught, he consults three different rabbis, who lead him on a convoluted journey as he struggles to make sense of it all. There are many Coen trademarks here: emphasis on the grotesque, dry humor, ominous low-angle cinematography, surreal situations, and bizarre dream/nightmare sequences. The Coens tell their story episodically, offering perhaps a few too many tangential subplots. The focus of the film shifts and then shifts again. The film is like a soup where the individual ingredients have not quite blended. Performances are uniformly low-key as characters create comedy in subtle ways. There are no jokes, but everyone laughs at the earnest characters, the absurd situations, and the skewering of established religion. “A Serious Man” is the anti-sitcom. It showcases a family with its warts and flaws right out front. Ozzie and Harriet never worried neighborhoods used in the movie; and “Hebrew and Yiddish for Goys,” a guide through the mysteries of the Hebrew and Yiddish languages. Film noir gave 1940s and 1950s Hollywood actresses some rich roles in B pictures that explored the dark and seamy underside of life. Cool, calculating women -- most often blonde -- were more than a match for men and were not above breaking the law to prove they meant business. “Bad Girls of Film Noir: Volumes 1 and 2” (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment) each collect four of these black-andwhite melodramas. Volume 1 includes “Two of a Kind” (1951), starring Lizabeth Scott as Brandy Kirby, in cahoots with lawyer Vincent Mailer (Alexander Knox) to find a man who looks like a missing heir. Lefty Farrell (Edmond O’Brien) fills the bill and is willing to cooperate in the scam. In “The Glass Wall” (1953), Peter Kuban (Vittorio Gassman), desperate to immigrate to the United States, stows away on a ship and jumps quarantine to solicit support for his petition for a visa on human rights grounds. Gloria Grahame (“The Bad and the Beautiful”) is the down-on-her-luck easy mark who finds more trouble for herself by helping Kuban. Joseph Biroc’s location photography offers a fascinating look at post-World War II New York City. Volume 1 also contains “The Killer That Stalked New York” (1953), with Evelyn Keyes determined to get revenge for being burned by her latest boyfriend, and “Bad for Each Other” (1953) with Lizabeth Scott as a socialite divorcee who draws Koran War veteran Charlton Heston into a fast, dangerous lifestyle. The films in Volume 2 of “Bad Girls of Film Noir” are “Night Editor” (1946), with Janis Carter as a gal carrying on an ext rama r it al af fai r with a cop; “O ne Gi rl’s (continued on Crossword page) Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) questions why his life has taken odd turns in ‘A Serious Man,’ directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. about the meaning of life or why a dark cloud settled over the family. The Coens revel in dissecting Larry’s angst, showing his awkward, humorous missteps through life, relationships, and morality. The ending is rather abrupt, and might require a replay to understand how everything comes together. Blu-ray and DVD extras include the featurettes “Becoming Serious,” which explores the creative vision behind “A Serious Man;” “Creating 1967,” a tour of the Minneapolis TABBOULE Call For s Reservation Today! 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