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I’ve always felt it would be a nice career to have, reviewing movies and television shows for online and paper magazines. I almost never agree with the ones I read, and since I see so many films a year and watch so much television each season, you’d think it would be an easy thing to do, for me. But I’m just really terrible at it! I can barely give someone a nice, coherent roundup of a film I’d just seen. I’ve always been terrible at summarizing, and anything I say is usually just followed with a “You had to be there. You have to see it.”
This will, most likely, be no different. Last night, I had a double feature of A Serious Man and An Education. Two important-sounding titles, two acclaimed movies, one seriously terrible-at-talking-about-movies girl. But I’ll try!
Of the dozens of movies I’ve seen this year (for once, I am not overexaggerating with sarcasm here), A Serious Man might very well be my absolute favorite. I’m not sure what has me so connected – I’m not Jewish, I’m not a man, I didn’t grow up in the 1960s – but I can’t stop thinking about it. The first scene, though people in the theatre chuckled, (intentionally so) wasn’t very funny. It turned goofy toward the very end, but with serious undertones that had me wondering whether I was in the wrong theatre. The rest of the film was completely painful, real, and, of course, hilarious. Michael Stuhlbarg, in his breakout role (though he’s done the Law & Order rounds), was absolutely amazing as Larry Gopnik. I can’t imagine anyone else playing this role as hurt and confused and perfect as he’d done.
For this who’ve seen it or will, we are or will be divided by the ending. There’s no middle ground about it: you’ll love it, or despise it. I loved it. I won’t spoil, but I will say that Joel and Ethan Coen have done this type of ending in the recent past and caught the same “y/n” response this is getting. I feel like there could be no better ending than the one this received. It’s real life. Things don’t tie up nicely in bows afterward, you know?
An Education on the other hand, wasn’t terrible. I’m not using snark, but I didn’t think it was as brilliant as it’s being sold to be. The story starts rather abruptly, and the end scenes don’t fully match the rest of what was being told. I know the events were based on real life (particularly, the memoir written by Lynn Barber with the same title; though, it doesn’t seem too strictly based on those facts), but they seemed a little slapped together to appease mass audiences in the end. Carey Mulligan (also known as Shia LaBeouf’s girlfriend) did an amazing job playing the wide-eyed, booksmart/naive-in-life Jenny, and Peter Sarsgaard was equally great being, well, a total creeper.
I’d gone into the film thinking she’d be seduced by his charms. She was, but there were definite red flags throughout their courtship – and the most awkward scene with a banana (that only lasted, what, thirty seconds? But still!) – that really made the whole thing feel so real. Which, in turn, left me feeling odd, though I think that reaction is what made the middle chunk of the film so good. We’re not supposed to be “ok” with this relationship. At least, I don’t think we are. Another problem I had with this film? It has forced me to continue debating whether or not I find Dominic Cooper attractive. I’m really having a tough time deciding.
Originally published at amateur sleuth. Please leave any comments there.
