AND THE WINNER IS…

“A Serious Man” (Focus Features, 10/2), the latest work of Ethan and Joel Coen and the highest-profile awards hopeful to be making its debut here at TIFF, screened for the first time this morning. Only a year after they came here with the disappointing “Burn After Reading” — which was fun enough but not nearly as deep or layered as most of the rest of their oeuvre — the brothers’ latest offering marks a decisive return to form. It is absolutely hilarious — an extraordinary satire of the Jewish-American experience — but nevertheless strikes me as unlikely awards bait.

Prior to the screening, the press had heard very little about the plot — only that it was inspired, to some degree, by the Coens’ own experience of growing up in a Jewish family in Minnesota during the late sixties and early seventies. As it turns out, the film focuses less on the Gopnik family’s kids than on its patriarch (Michael Stuhlbarg), a reserved if not wimpy professor (think Marty McFly’s dad in “Back to the Future”) who is presented with moral dilemma at the very same time that his personal life begins crashing down around him, and who cannot find anyone to provide him with the guidance that he so desperately needs.

On a surface level, the circumstances that befall this man are utterly tragic; in the hands of the Coens, though, one can’t help but laugh. To name just a few: his wife informs him that she wants a divorce and him to move out of the house so that a family friend of 15 years (in possession of man-boobs and an unintentionally patronizing demeanor) can move in; his kids ignore him (except when they need cash or the TV antenna to be fixed); his live-in relative (Richard Kind) puts addition strain on the family (regularly hogging the bathroom to drain his cist); neighbor needles him (by driving his lawnmower onto his property); his superior scares him (notifying him that someone has been writing anonymous complaints about him, but insisting, unconvincingly, that it won’t impact the upcoming decision about whether or not to grant him tenure); his doctor hounds him (about discussing the results of recent medical tests); a student tests him (by offering a bribe of much-needed cash to change his grade); and on and on we go until he nears the breaking point.

This movie works so well for three very clear reasons…

Candor The Coens have perfectly captured the oddities and eccentricities of conservative Jewish life, and present them in a way that could have seemed offensive in others’ hands but seems lovingly in theirs. As someone who has also lived it, I instantly recognized and laughed along at the various stock characters — the wimp, the mensch, the goodie two-shows, the hypochondriac, the trite philosopher, the unsolicited counselor, the sparring siblings, the kid who curses because he thinks it makes him cool, the self-important members of a congregation, the rabbi who can only answer a question with another question. And I got a particular kick out of characters who fail to finish sentences: “The respect she has for you…”

Pacing The film’s humor is achieved less through the lines of dialogue than the manner in which they are delivered — often there is a question or statement, a skipped beat or two, and then a hilarious payoff. The sense of dread afflicting the protagonist is also conveyed magnificently, sometimes through silences but also through cacophonies of unusual noises (as demonstrated in the film’s trailer) that crescendo as he nears his breaking point. For brief spurts, it even feels more like a music video than a movie!

Casting It’s rare to see a film cast perfectly — Frank Capra, John Ford, and Preston Sturges did it years ago, but lately it’s a skill that’s been left to Jason Reitman, Paul Thomas Anderson, and the Coens, who in this film cast people who actually look like a young rabbi, old rabbi, burdensome live-in relative, and the like are supposed to look. Their greatest forte is — and, since the earliest days of Steve Buscemi, has been — finding the perfect face for the perfect part, which is precisely what Fred Melamed (who plays Sy Ableman), among others, is in this one.

My sole concern about this movie is that much of its humor may be lost on people who are not Jewish — particularly some of the customary rituals and Yiddish and Hebrew terms like “goy” and “Hashem.” But I think that even if they don’t “get” (to use another word that is employed unusually in the movie) every reference, they will still be able to enjoy the majority of the situations and possibly even relate to them.

Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, and Larry David will be proud — they’ve all tried to incorporate this sort of stuff into their work, but have never managed to do so as effectively or as humorously as the Coens now have.

Note: My initial analysis of the films awards prospects is that it will not be a realistic contender for best picture, best director, best actor, or best supporting actor, all categories in which we once thought it might. Instead, its backers would be advised to concentrate their efforts on nominations for best original screenplay at the Oscars and best picture (musical or comedy) at the Golden Globes.

Photo: Michael Stuhlbarg in “A Serious Man.” Credit: Focus Features.