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'A Serious Man' is fifth in best-picture field that will be available on DVD
By Rich Heldenfels
Beacon Journal popular culture writer
Published on Sunday, Feb 07, 2010
A Serious Man, the most recent film by Joel and Ethan Coen, arrives on DVD and Blu-ray on Tuesday, not long after getting Oscar nominations for best picture and best original screenplay.
The Coen brothers write and direct their movies with a perspective that seems to be less about commercial and critical considerations than about satisfying their personal urge to address a topic. They struck Oscar gold with the somber but marvelous No Country for Old Men, then followed it with the screwy comedy Burn After Reading.
Now, with A Serious Man, they offer a meditation on the uncertainty and unfairness of life as well as a consideration of faith, especially Judaism. In a comedy. As with any Coen movie, there are times when you think that it's just plain weird. And the Coens admit in a DVD extra that there's not much of a plot — and no direct connection between most of the film and the seeming folk tale (made up by the Coens) that begins the movie.
But by the end of A Serious Man, the Coens have thrown a lot of big questions at the audience. No answers. The Coens don't do answers. But you at least end up thinking about their questions.
A Serious Man stars Michael Stuhlbarg as Larry Gropnik, a college physics professor in a Midwestern town in 1967 who is suddenly being buffeted by events beyond his control. His wife wants a divorce. His brother has camped out in Larry's home. His neighbor seems anti-Semitic. His bid for tenure is not going well.
Larry is not content just to deal with the problems; he wants to understand why all this is happening — and consults three rabbis for an explanation. Even as he tries that, though, the recurring question in his life is, ''What's going on?''
Stuhlbarg is very good at playing Larry's confusion, which just grows as people expect him to view crazy ideas as reasonable. He reminded me of William H. Macy's loser in Fargo — if that movie had shown us what Macy was like before becoming corrupt. I don't think the movie is as good as No Country, Fargo or The Big Lebowski — to name just three of my Coen favorites — but it is a strong rebound from Burn After Reading.
Extras include a 17-minute piece on the making of the movie, which you should not watch before you have seen A Serious Man, because there are some spoilers. There is also a piece about creating 1967, and a brief piece explaining Hebrew and Yiddish terms used in the movie (although you can figure out most of them from their movie context).
Speaking of Oscar nominees on home video, with the arrival of A Serious Man, five of the best-picture nominees will be available; the others are District 9, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds and Up. Precious: Based on the Novel ''Push'' by Sapphire is due on March 9, two days after the Oscars are handed out, and some vendors have Up in the Air also arriving on March 9. The Blind Side is due March 23. At this writing, I have not seen video release plans for Avatar — still making tons of money in theaters — and An Education.
Other DVD items of note: You may have seen late January obituaries for Howard Zinn, the author of A People's History of the United States, who believed in reporting history as it happened to people far removed from power. You can see Zinn himself Tuesday in The People Speak (New Video, $19.95), a stage performance of quotations from Zinn's work, with commentary by Zinn. Participants also include Matt Damon and Josh Brolin (who are also producers of the video), Danny Glover, Bob Dylan, Morgan Freeman, Marisa Tomei and Rosario Dawson. The DVD adds backstage footage and celebrity interviews.
The 10th and final season of JAG (Paramount, 22 episodes, five discs, $64.99) lands on Tuesday. This was designed as a transition year of sorts, as star David James Elliott was preparing to leave the series, but it proved to be the swan song. And the DVD still doesn't say who won the coin flip at the end of the last episode. The lone extra is a brief thank-you piece made after the last episode was completed.
Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal, in the HeldenFiles Online blog at http://heldenfels.ohio.com, on Facebook and on Twitter. He can be reached at 330-996-3582 and rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.
A Serious Man, the most recent film by Joel and Ethan Coen, arrives on DVD and Blu-ray on Tuesday, not long after getting Oscar nominations for best picture and best original screenplay.
Get the full article here.
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