Lexington, KY - This month, we continue our early look at Oscar hopefuls. The list of candidates for best picture will be expanded to 10 nominees for the first time this year, opening the door for less mainstream films, such as these two. The Academy Award nominations will be announced on Feb. 2.
A Serious Man
You can't accuse the Coen brothers of making things easy for their audiences. That is never more obvious than in "A Serious Man," a bleak and thoroughly depressing look at one man's agony as his life falls apart.
Saying this film is difficult is a bit like saying you're going to experience a little pain just before being hit by a bus. Drawing inspiration (if that's the right word) from the Book of Job, Joel and Ethan Coen have transformed the ancient biblical hero of human suffering into a meek and mild physics professor named Larry Gopnick (Michael Stuhlbarg).
"A Serious Man" takes place in 1967 Minnesota, a barren landscape the Coens must know well from their own childhood. In the Bible, Job was plagued with boils, among other horrors. In this updated version, Larry's job is in jeopardy, his wife is leaving him for another man, his children are holy terrors, and his slacker brother spends long hours in the bathroom draining his sebaceous cyst. And that's just the first few minutes of the film.
The absurdity of Larry's troubles is personified by a persistent bill collector for the Columbia record club. He explains that Larry owes for records he never ordered. "I did nothing," Larry sputters, "and I still have to pay?"
It's Larry's life in a nutshell. He does nothing wrong, tries to live his life the right way, and he's rewarded with nothing but punishment. His religious faith is little help. He goes to a series of rabbis to find meaning to his suffering, all to no avail. It's an unsympathetic and cynical rebuke to those who say everything happens for a reason.
Joel and Ethan Coen have marshaled their very considerable talents to construct a stark purgatory of human frailty. Or, said another way, they are very good at what they do, which in this case is creating something extremely unpleasant and uncomfortable to watch.
Last year, the Coens packaged their vision of evil loose in the world into a dark but suspenseful thriller ("No Country for Old Men"), and Oscar voters rewarded it as best picture of the year. This time around, there's no pretty wrapping paper. The message is just right out there in all its splendid gloom.
"A Serious Man" may express the dismal world-view of the Coens in no uncertain terms, but overall it's not their best effort. Despite the talk of Oscars, I can't imagine the film being given serious consideration for best picture, let alone making the list of finalists.
An Education
In 1961 London, a 16-year-old high school girl finds herself in a bind. School is boring and her demanding father is pushing her toward a life she doesn't want to lead.
Then a mysterious man twice her age appears. His smooth charm captivates her, and even wins over her strict and protective parents. He whisks her off to a flurry of concerts, clubs and exotic weekend trips, leading to an inevitable, but unseemly, romance.
Based on the real-life memoir of writer Lynn Barber and written for the screen by Nick Hornby ("About a Boy," "High Fidelity"), "An Education" is a romance turned on its head. We root for her happiness and yet there's an ominous feeling of where this is all heading.
The film is about the wide-eyed joy of youthful exuberance, but also about bad choices. There's a chemistry between the two central characters, but also a legitimate discomfort in watching this Lolita-style relationship grow.
Peter Sarsgaard, who excels at morally ambiguous roles, is both enticing and creepy as David, and Alfred Molina is convincing as the domineering and controlling father. But this picture belongs to Carey Mulligan as Jenny, the young girl teetering on the edge of adulthood.
Mulligan is amazing to watch as she captures the agony of a life at the crossroads, with two paths ahead represented by the men in her life: her uptight, rule-bound father and the rule-breaking David. She also embodies the dilemma of women of that era who were still living in a world defined by men.
"An Education" takes its time to unravel its story, and it may not steal the spotlight from other higher-profile candidates for best picture. But Carey Mulligan's wise-beyond-her-years performance appears to be a sure thing for an Oscar nomination.