A Serious Man

The more I think about A Serious Man, the more I like it. A lot of movies, you enjoy them while you're in the cinema then forget them the second you walk out into the car park. The latest from the Coens was almost the opposite of that. It's a slow burner while you're watching it, stuffed with wonderfully observed characters (and not just the main cast - every supporting role was perfect), precise background detail and laugh out loud moments of nonsensical reality... and then it ended, and just like in No Country For Old Men, my immediate reaction was "is that it?" But then I started to think about it. And think the film as a whole. And I realised how perfect the ending was, how no other ending would have been right.

A Serious Man is the Coens' most philosophical film. And their philosophy appears to be - there are no answers. "Accept the mystery," as one character memorably states. I've read criticism that this movie ask more questions than it answers, but that's exactly the point. And what a shamelessly entertaining way to make that point.