What to make of ‘A Serious Man’?

In all the years that I have been watching Coen brothers movies, I have mostly enjoyed myself. And only seldom have I ever felt left out on the jokes. Until now.

Monday night I did a two-fer, beginning with “Amelia” – which the less said of the better – and ending with “A Serious Man.” And even after sleeping on it, I don’t know what to say about “A Serious Man.”

Watching this movie was like watching a foreign-language film with the subtitles turned off. From the beginning, with the curious little intro short about a Polish/Ukranian Jewish couple meeting what they think is a ghost, to the ending with a coming tornado and a suspect x-ray, I could never quite catch what the Coens were up to.

Maybe it’s because the film is so intrinsically Jewish. Maybe it’s because the Coen humor, in this case at least, is so determinedly obtuse. Maybe it’s because, in the end, the film was so darkly theological that I disassociated with everything but the most obvious humor.

I don’t know. And, a rare case with Coen films, I don’t really care.

Below: The trailer for “A Serious Man.”