A Serious Man(2009)

Poster of A Serious Man

Synopsis

The story of an ordinary man's search for clarity in a universe where Jefferson Airplane is on the radio and F-Troop is on TV. It is 1967, and Larry Gopnik, a physics professor at a quiet Midwestern university, has just been informed by his wife Judith that she is leaving him. She has fallen in love with one of his more pompous acquaintances, Sy Ableman, who seems to her a more substantial person than the feckless Larry. Larry's unemployable brother Arthur is sleeping on the couch, his son Danny is a discipline problem and a shirker at Hebrew school, and his daughter Sarah is filching money from his wallet in order to save up for a nose job. While his wife and Sy Ableman blithely make new domestic arrangements, and his brother becomes more and more of a burden, an anonymous hostile letter-writer is trying to sabotage Larry's chances for tenure at the university. Also, a graduate student seems to be trying to bribe him for a passing grade while at the same time threatening to sue him for defamation. Plus, the beautiful woman next door torments him by sunbathing nude. Struggling for equilibrium, Larry seeks advice from three different rabbis. Can anyone help him cope with his afflictions and become a righteous person--a mensch--a serious man?
The story of an ordinary man's search for clarity in a universe where Jefferson Airplane is on the radio and F-Troop is on TV. It is 1967, and Larry Gopnik, a physics professor at a quiet Midwestern university, has just been informed …
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In Theaters

  • October 2, 2009

MPAA Rating

R (for language, drug use, some sexuality/nudity and brief violence)

Genres

Family, Comedy, Drama

Run Time

1 hour 45 minutes

Distributors

Focus Features

Box Office

$9,190,525

Directors

Joel Coen

Director

Ethan Coen

Director

CAST

Michael Stuhlbarg

Larry Gopnik

Richard Kind

Uncle Arthur

Fred Melamed

Sy Ableman

Sari Lennick

Judith Gopnik

Peter Breitmayer

Mr Brandt

Alan Mandell

Rabbi Marshak
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