A Serious Man- Coen brothers at their finest. But not really. Still great though. Just underwhelming. It's a movie that builds up so much electricity, but refuses to shock the audience with it. Don't blame the bros. for doing a movie their way. After all, "True Grit" ends with the chick losing her leg and feeling "sad" about stuff, and "The Big Lebowski" ends with his friend dying, him having a possible kid on the way, and bowling. The whole film interests you with the misfortune of its protagonist, but it ends with something that amounts to nothing so it really is just a religious metaphor. It presents us with the question, but leaves us completely answerless. It's a movie that ends right before its climax, so the audience wishes they could have saw more, or that the brothers are just to lazy to work their movie another 20 minutes more. It poses the same example that it points out in the beginning. The protagonist professor tells his failing asian student, that although he understands the pictures and fables that he presents to describe physics, without understanding the mathematics, the picture is meaningless. So too is the religious questions posed. 'A Serious Man' is a fable, one with only the picture, but no mathematics behind it. I enjoyed the questions it poses, because as religion is as a concept, each individual must decide on their own.
Crazy, Stupid, Love- An ensemble film piece with great chemistry between Steve Carell (the normal suburban divorcing father/husband) and Ryan Gosling (GQ styled and womanizer extraordinaire). Everybody else does their part and they do it fine, but it is these two men, that truly shiny. Yes, a corny rhyme. So too, does this film present a background of reality, but is cushioned by a foreground of cliche and happiness. The true love/ soul mate schlock is fine… but the real problem is the ending that chooses to give everybody their soul mates, which ruins the illusion of reality. At least one couple shouldn't have survived this film's cycle. But no, even the 13 year old boy gets with the 17 year old girl, at least eventually he will. But if you look at it from a different angle, one ignoring the ending, this film is very enjoyable and lasting, and vastly different in comedic style from 'Friends with Benefits', which will pay off in years to come for viewing. Because, after all, love, is the most powerful story of them all. So, for a funny, but more dramatic version of the latter described, this one is the way to go.
- Jeff Bassin
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