2. 'A Serious Man'

Two things about "A Serious Man" are very reassuring. One is the last thing in the end credits, a mock-boilerplate declaration that, "No Jews were harmed in the making of this motion picture." The other is that the brothers Coen, Ethan and Joel, are at the very tiptop of their game, delivering a totally original black-comedy creation that never puts a foot wrong. We're in exotic country, and not just the 19th-century Poland of the prologue, with its Yiddish dialogue, artificial snowfall, and geography and nomenclature so foreign that the subtitles could use subtitles. This droll setup, a folk tale in miniature (and in the old-fashioned 1.33:1 format), prepares the goyische majority in the audience for the most in-your-face Jewish experience ever proffered as a mainstream American movie. Most of it's laid in the Coens' native Minnesota and 1967, the "summer of love," largely recalled here as an era of "F Troop" reruns, Coppertone tans, and the inescapability of the Columbia Record Club. College physics prof Larry Gopnik (welcome, Michael Stuhlbarg!) is apparently in good health and in line for tenure, but he's also about to be reminded that all life is lived in the penumbra of the Uncertainty Principle: "It means we can't always know what's going on ... and it'll be on the midterm!" The key lesson is that, as Larry pietistically observes, "Actions have consequences." Then again, so does non-action; barely a scene passes without someone protesting that he, she, or they "didn't do anything!" Do, don't do, you're done for. The screenplay (best of the year, hands down) elevates the shaggy-dog story to an existential principle, and the film's final moments will haunt you to your grave, should you live so long. In the meantime, "Embrace the mystery." -- Richard T. Jameson