Imagine a hilarious film about a day in the life of an angst-ridden professor looking for tenure…not to mention answers from his Jewish faith. Now imagine it’s written/directed by the fabulous Coen Brothers, and well, you’ve got a hit. It’s 1967 and Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) is simply looking to his faith for answers to God marriage, and family. He does everything by the book – so much so, that you want to slap him. And actually, somebody does…his wife’s lover, Sy, (Fred Melamed.) As Larry’s troubles mount from home to office to church, all Larry wants is a bit of guidance from the various Rabbis who offer little more than metaphors and nonsense talk. What drives this movie – aside from its larger than life comical camera work of suburbia – is that nobody seems to empathize with Larry. In this, the Coens examine Hebrew school, Bar Mitzvahs and the confusion of it all through the eyes of non- A list stars, who surprisingly all give Oscar worthy performances. Mazel tov! Four tiaras
