Bloomington Minnesota 1967, Jewish physics lecturer Larry Gopnik is a serious and a very put-upon man. His daughter is stealing from him to save up for a nose job. His pot-head son gets stoned at his own bar-mitzvah and only wants Larry around to fix the TV antenna. His useless brother Arthur is an unwelcome house guest. But, both Arthur and Larry get sent out into a motel!! Larry's wife Judy wants a divorce and she moves her lover, Sy into the house. Even after Sy's death in a car crash Arthur and Larry are still at the motel? Larry has attorney bills mounting up and up for his divorce. Arthur has a criminal court appearance and a land feud with a neighbor. Larry is tempted to take a bribe offered by a student to give him an illegal exam pass mark. The rabbis he visits for advice only dole out platitudes. Still, God moves in mysterious and not always pleasant ways and Larry and his family will find this out.
This film features extensive use of marijuana and in some cases by pre-teen boys. There is lots of profanity throughout the film. There’s some sexual material as well. A distant view of a topless sunbather, a dream-sequence sex scene and some brief but bloody moments of violence. The movie also offers viewers complex questions to ponder on the subjects of faith and religion, especially the Jewish faith. This film is what happens when you take interesting and quirky characters but do nothing with them? It’s full of cringe comedy and nothing else!! This just emphasizes the hopelessness of the characters and their lives. It is too vicious to be funny, too dry to be interesting and too boring to be memorable. Of course, it’s competently acted and filmed but if nothing happens what good is it?? 3* (This movie is OK)
Note: Imdb 7* out of 10* with 135,599 reviews, Common Sense Media James Rocchi 4* out of 5*, age 17+ 3* violence, sex, 4* language, drinking, drugs & smoking, Rotten Tomatoes 89% with 225 critic reviews, 68% with 50,000+ audience scores, Metacritic 84 out of 100 with 38 critic reviews, 6.7 out of 10 with 322 user scores, Roger Ebert 4*, Amazon 4.3* out of 5* with 878 ratings.
Special Note: 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. Really, there is no meaning behind it? In his argument with the Columbia House records employee over the phone, Larry repeatedly rejects the album Abraxas by Santana. This is a Gnostic term for God, particularly a God who encompasses all things from Creator of the Universe to the Devil and an etymological root for “abracadabra". It is implied that Larry is vehemently rejecting mysticism, pantheism, and magic. Sarah Gopnik repeatedly talks about going to "The Whole". The Whole is the music club in the basement of the University of Minnesota student union. It opened in the 1960s.
Mistakes: The Columbia Record Club representative informs Larry that he received a copy of the Santana album "Abraxas". This album was released in 1970, three years after the time period of this movie. Near the end of the movie, the Hebrew School teacher announces that "The Weather Service has issued a Tornado Warning”. The National Weather Service was known as the Weather Bureau until late in 1970. Three-pronged electric sockets are visible throughout the movie, especially obvious at the dentist's workbench. At this time three-pronged sockets were exceptionally rare.
No comments:
Post a Comment