A Serious Man Movie Cast, Plot and Everything to Know

Plot

What's the story about?

Plot

The new film from Academy Award-winning writer/directors Joel and Ethan Coen. The film is the story of an ordinary man’s search for clarity in a universe where Jefferson Airplane is on the radio and “F-Troop” is on TV. It is 1967, and Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg), a physics professor at a quiet Midwestern university, has just been informed by his wife Judith (Sari Lennick) that she is leaving him. She has fallen in love with one of his more pompous colleagues, Sy Ableman (Fred Melamed), who seems to her a more substantial person than the feckless Larry. Larry’s unemployable brother Arthur (Richard Kind) is sleeping on the couch, his son Danny (Aaron Wolf) is a discipline problem and a shirker at Hebrew school, and his daughter Sarah (Jessica McManus) is filching money from his wallet in order to save up for a nose job. While his wife and Sy Ableman blithely make new domestic arrangements, and his brother becomes more and more of a burden, an anonymous hostile letter-writer is trying to sabotage Larry’s chances for tenure at the university. Also, a graduate student seems to be trying to bribe him for a passing grade while at the same time threatening to sue him for defamation. Plus, the beautiful woman next door torments him by sunbathing nude. Struggling for equilibrium, Larry seeks advice from three different rabbis. Can anyone help him cope with his afflictions and become a righteous person – a mensch – a serious man?

Comedy Drama

Top Cast

The lead cast starring in A Serious Man.

• 
  Michael Stuhlbarg

  After the Hunt, Tom Cruise/Alejandro Iñárritu Movie

• A
  Aaron Wolff

• 
  Richard Kind

  Hereafter, The Out-Laws

• F
  Fred Melamed

  A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, In a World…

• S
  Sari Lennick

• J
  Jessica McManus

• P
  Peter Breitmayer

  Coffee, Kill Boss

• B
  Brent Braunschweig

• D
  David Kang

• B
  Benji Portnoe

• J
  Jack Swiler

• A
  Andrew Lentz

Crew Behind the Film

The A Serious Man behind-the-scenes crew and production team.

The film's director Joel Coen last directed The Tragedy of MacBeth and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. The film's writer Joel Coen last wrote The Tragedy of MacBeth and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.

Director

Joel Coen
Ethan Coen

Screenwriters

Joel Coen
Ethan Coen

Producers

Ethan Coen
Joel Coen

Production Details

What we know about the A Serious Man movie production.

Key Facts

• The movie will shoot this summer after the brothers complete work on "Burn After Reading", starring George Clooney, Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt (05/25/07).

Production Updates for A Serious Man

Aug 2009

Completed

Changed A Serious Man movie production status. The movie is ready for release.

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Additional Information

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Watch official A Serious Man movie trailers and clips.

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