Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

A Serious Man

  • 20092009
  • RR
  • 1h 46m
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
142K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
4,263
103
Michael Stuhlbarg in A Serious Man (2009)
A black comedy set in 1967 and centered on on Larry Gopnik (Stuhlbarg), a Midwestern professor who watches his life unravel when his wife prepares to leave him because his inept brother (Kind) won't move out of the house.
Play trailer1:41
8 Videos
99+ Photos
ComedyDrama
Larry Gopnik, a Midwestern physics teacher, watches his life unravel over multiple sudden incidents. Though seeking meaning and answers amidst his turmoils, he seems to keep sinking.Larry Gopnik, a Midwestern physics teacher, watches his life unravel over multiple sudden incidents. Though seeking meaning and answers amidst his turmoils, he seems to keep sinking.Larry Gopnik, a Midwestern physics teacher, watches his life unravel over multiple sudden incidents. Though seeking meaning and answers amidst his turmoils, he seems to keep sinking.
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
142K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
4,263
103
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Directors
      • Ethan Coen
      • Joel Coen
    • Writers
      • Joel Coen
      • Ethan Coen
    • Stars
      • Michael Stuhlbarg
      • Richard Kind
      • Sari Lennick
    Top credits
    • Directors
      • Ethan Coen
      • Joel Coen
    • Writers
      • Joel Coen
      • Ethan Coen
    • Stars
      • Michael Stuhlbarg
      • Richard Kind
      • Sari Lennick
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 421User reviews
    • 318Critic reviews
    • 84Metascore
    • Nominated for 2 Oscars
      • 17 wins & 80 nominations total

    Videos8

    A Serious Man -- Trailer #1
    Trailer 1:41
    A Serious Man -- Trailer #1
    A Guide to the Films of the Coen Brothers
    Clip 1:56
    A Guide to the Films of the Coen Brothers
    "Living Arrangements" from A Serious Man
    Clip 0:44
    "Living Arrangements" from A Serious Man
    "I Tried to Be a Serious Man" from A Serious Man
    Clip 0:58
    "I Tried to Be a Serious Man" from A Serious Man
    A Serious Man
    Interview 0:46
    A Serious Man
    A Serious Man
    Interview 0:27
    A Serious Man
    A Serious Man
    Interview 0:42
    A Serious Man
    A Serious Man
    Interview 0:37
    A Serious Man

    Photos120

    Adam Arkin and Michael Stuhlbarg in A Serious Man (2009)
    Amy Landecker and Michael Stuhlbarg in A Serious Man (2009)
    Michael Stuhlbarg in A Serious Man (2009)
    Michael Stuhlbarg in A Serious Man (2009)
    Sari Lennick and Jessica McManus in A Serious Man (2009)
    Richard Kind in A Serious Man (2009)
    Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Roger Deakins, and Betsy Magruder in A Serious Man (2009)
    Ethan Coen and Joel Coen in A Serious Man (2009)
    Ethan Coen and Aaron Wolff in A Serious Man (2009)
    Peter Breitmayer and Michael Stuhlbarg in A Serious Man (2009)
    Michael Stuhlbarg and Aaron Wolff in A Serious Man (2009)
    Amy Landecker in A Serious Man (2009)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Michael Stuhlbarg
    Michael Stuhlbarg
    • Larry Gopnik
    Richard Kind
    Richard Kind
    • Uncle Arthur
    Sari Lennick
    Sari Lennick
    • Judith Gopnik
    Fred Melamed
    Fred Melamed
    • Sy Ableman
    Aaron Wolff
    Aaron Wolff
    • Danny Gopnik
    Jessica McManus
    • Sarah Gopnik
    Peter Breitmayer
    Peter Breitmayer
    • Mr. Brandt
    Brent Braunschweig
    • Mitch Brandt
    David Kang
    • Clive Park
    Benjamin Portnoe
    • Danny's Reefer Buddy
    Jack Swiler
    • Boy on Bus
    Andrew S. Lentz
    • Cursing Boy on Bus
    Jon Kaminski Jr.
    • Mike Fagle
    Ari Hoptman
    Ari Hoptman
    • Arlen Finkle
    Alan Mandell
    • Rabbi Marshak
    Amy Landecker
    Amy Landecker
    • Mrs. Samsky
    George Wyner
    George Wyner
    • Rabbi Nachtner
    Michael Tezla
    • Dr. Sussman
    • Directors
      • Ethan Coen
      • Joel Coen
    • Writers
      • Joel Coen
      • Ethan Coen
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Burn After Reading
    7.0
    Burn After Reading
    The Man Who Wasn't There
    7.5
    The Man Who Wasn't There
    Barton Fink
    7.6
    Barton Fink
    Inside Llewyn Davis
    7.4
    Inside Llewyn Davis
    Miller's Crossing
    7.7
    Miller's Crossing
    Blood Simple
    7.6
    Blood Simple
    The Hudsucker Proxy
    7.2
    The Hudsucker Proxy
    O Brother, Where Art Thou?
    7.7
    O Brother, Where Art Thou?
    Hail, Caesar!
    6.3
    Hail, Caesar!
    Raising Arizona
    7.3
    Raising Arizona
    True Grit
    7.6
    True Grit
    The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
    7.3
    The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The Coen Brothers stated that the opening scene was nothing more than a little short that they made up to get the audience in the proper mood, and that there is no meaning behind it.
    • Goofs
      Larry Gopnik is writing an equation on the board in class. At one point he writes delta p equals the square root of ^2 - ^2 which would be zero, but the correct equation has the squared inside the bracket in the first term under the square root: ^2-^2. This is an equation for the root mean square deviation of momentum in Heisenberg's uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics. Later in the scene, after the students leave and Sy Ableman appears, the equation is in the correct form.
    • Quotes

      Rabbi Nachtner: You know Lee Sussman.

      Larry Gopnik: Doctor Sussman? I think I - yeah.

      Rabbi Nachtner: Did he ever tell you about the goy's teeth?

      Larry Gopnik: No... I- What goy?

      Rabbi Nachtner: So... Lee is at work one day; you know he has the orthodontic practice there at Great Bear. He's making a plaster mold - it's for corrective bridge work - in the mouth of one of his patients, Russell Kraus. The mold dries and Lee is examining it one day before fabricating an appliance. He notices something unusual. There appears to be something engraved on the inside of the patient's lower incisors. He vav shin yud ayin nun yud. "Hwshy 'ny". "Help me, save me". This in a goy's mouth, Larry. He calls the goy back on the pretense of needing additional measurements for the appliance. "How are you? Noticed any other problems with your teeth?" No. There it is. "Hwshy 'ny". "Help me". Son of a gun. Sussman goes home. Can Sussman eat? Sussman can't eat. Can Sussman sleep? Sussman can't sleep. Sussman looks at the molds of his other patients, goy and Jew alike, seeking other messages. He finds none. He looks in his own mouth. Nothing. He looks in his wife's mouth. Nothing. But Sussman is an educated man. Not the world's greatest sage, maybe, no Rabbi Marshak, but he knows a thing or two from the Zohar and the Caballah. He knows that every Hebrew letter has its numeric equivalent. 8-4-5-4-4-7-3. Seven digits... a phone number, maybe? "Hello? Do you know a goy named Kraus, Russell Kraus?" Who? "Where have I called? The Red Owl in Bloomington. Thanks so much." He goes. It's a Red Owl. Groceries; what have you. Sussman goes home. What does it mean? He has to find out if he is ever to sleep again. He goes to see... the Rabbi Nachtner. He comes in, he sits right where you're sitting right now. "What does it mean, Rabbi? Is it a sign from Hashem, 'Help me'? I, Sussman, should be doing something to help this goy? Doing what? The teeth don't say. Or maybe I'm supposed to help people generally, lead a more righteous life? Is the answer in Caballah? In Torah? Or is there even a question? Tell me, Rabbi, what can such a sign mean?"

      [pause as the Rabbi drinks his tea]

      Larry Gopnik: So what did you tell him?

      Rabbi Nachtner: Sussman?

      Larry Gopnik: Yes!

      Rabbi Nachtner: Is it... relevant?

      Larry Gopnik: Well, isn't that why you're telling me?

      Rabbi Nachtner: Okay. Nachtner says, look. The teeth, we don't know. A sign from Hashem? Don't know. Helping others... couldn't hurt.

      Larry Gopnik: No! No, but... who put it there? Was it for him, Sussman, or for whoever found it, or for just, for, for...

      Rabbi Nachtner: We can't know everything.

      Larry Gopnik: It sounds like you don't know anything! Why even tell me the story?

      Rabbi Nachtner: [chuckling] First I should tell you, then I shouldn't.

      Larry Gopnik: What happened to Sussman?

      Rabbi Nachtner: What would happen? Not much. He went back to work. For a while he checked every patient's teeth for new messages. He didn't find any. In time, he found he'd stopped checking. He returned to life. These questions that are bothering you, Larry - maybe they're like a toothache. We feel them for a while, then they go away.

      Larry Gopnik: I don't want it to just go away! I want an answer!

      Rabbi Nachtner: Sure! We all want the answer! But Hashem doesn't owe us the answer, Larry. Hashem doesn't owe us anything. The obligation runs the other way.

      Larry Gopnik: Why does he make us feel the questions if he's not gonna give us any answers?

      Rabbi Nachtner: He hasn't told me.

      [Larry puts his face in his hands in despair]

      Larry Gopnik: And... what happened to the goy?

      Rabbi Nachtner: The goy? Who cares?

    • Crazy credits
      At the end of the credits is a line advising that "No Jews were harmed in the making of this motion picture."
    • Connections
      Featured in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Surrogates/Pandorum/Fame (2009)
    • Soundtracks
      Somebody to Love
      Written by Darby Slick

      Performed by Jefferson Airplane

      Courtesy of The RCA Records Label

      By arrangement with Sony BMG Music Entertainment

    User reviews421

    Review
    Review
    Top review
    8/10
    Magnificent. The Coen Brothers take a detour.
    Let me say up front that most fans of the Coen brothers' early films might be disappointed if they're expecting "Fargo", "The Big Lebowski" or even "O Brother". Unlike those movies, here we don't have a lot of plot, comedy or action. The message of the film is very challenging, and it requires a lot of thought to figure out what they're saying.

    I'd say this movie is for fans of the recent American films "Synecdoche NY", "Doubt", and the recent Japanese films "Departures", "Yureru" and of course the classics by Kurosawa like "Rashomon". What I'm saying is that this is a film that tackles philosophical questions of perception, faith, and in particular, uncertainty.

    If you've had some physics, you're in for a real treat because much of the theme centers around Schrödinger's "Uncertainty Principle", briefly touched upon in the Coens' excellent 2001 film "The Man Who Wasn't There". Here they give us a more powerful dose. If you've never heard of this principle, don't worry, you can look it up on Wikipedia or you can accept my synopsis of it, which I'll warn you might be flawed because I ain't no physicist:

    The Uncertainty Principle (or "Schrödinger's Cat") proves mathematically that certain events are unknowable. It proposes the idea of a cat that might be alive or dead, but we cannot know without looking inside the cage. At the same time, the minute we look inside the cage, the cat will be killed by a toxic gas. The bottom line: we can't know the answer. Ever.

    From there, the movie explores how different people react when confronted with the unknown. Some form prejudices. Some fall back on faith. Some become faithLESS. And some just don't care.

    This is a beautifully crafted film that shows us the nature of human beings in that respect. No, there's not really a story. But it does even better than that: it challenges our minds to see elements of our own lives within the life of this ordinary schmuck. I am truly amazed at the Coens' accomplishment, and I hope they continue in this direction in the future, though I'm sure it may hurt their mainstream appeal.

    If you see this film & like it, I think you'll really enjoy the other films I've listed as well as the Hungarian masterpiece "Werckmeister Harmonies", anything by Wim Wenders ("The End of Violence" touches on the same Uncertainty Principle) and Orson Welles' "The Trial".
    helpful•57
    27
    • rooprect
    • Jan 8, 2011

    FAQ5

    • Is "A Serious Man" based on a book?
    • When is the film set?
    • Was Sy writing the derogative letters to the tenure board?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 6, 2009 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United Kingdom
      • France
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Official Facebook
    • Languages
      • English
      • Yiddish
      • Hebrew
    • Also known as
      • Un hombre serio
    • Filming locations
      • Czech Republic
    • Production companies
      • Focus Features
      • StudioCanal
      • Relativity Media
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $7,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $9,228,768
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $251,337
      • Oct 4, 2009
    • Gross worldwide
      • $31,430,334
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 46 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • DTS
      • Dolby Digital
      • SDDS
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Michael Stuhlbarg in A Serious Man (2009)
    Top Gap
    What is the Japanese language plot outline for A Serious Man (2009)?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    View list
    List
    The Best Movies and Shows to Watch in August
    See the full list
    View list
    List
    Fall TV Guide: The Best Shows Coming This Year
    See the full list
    View image
    Photos
    Hollywood Romances: Our Favorite Couples
    See the gallery
    Back to top

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more access
    Sign in for more access
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Interest-Based Ads
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2022 by IMDb.com, Inc.