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The Coen Brothers' A Serious Man Trailer

Where the Hell Did This Come From? / Dustin Rowles

Trailers | July 30, 2009 | Comments (32)

In April 2007 (before No Country for Old Men was released), I wrote up a trade piece on the casting of the Coen Brothers’ Burn After Reading, which was about to go into production. At the end of that paragraph, I also noted: “Oh, and this just in: They’ve announced a third project they’re working on — a film called A Serious Man. No details were given.”

That’s all we ever wrote about A Serious Man. It’s as much as anyone else wrote, too. In this day and age, and as popular as the Coen Brothers are, they somehow managed to make a movie completely under the radar. There were no casting announcements. No leaked images. No publicized set skirmishes. They somehow managed to make a movie without alerting every news outlet and movie website on the Internet.

I respect the hell out of that, but if other filmmakers start pulling that shit, I’m going to be out of a job.

Anyway, completely out of nowhere (no Facebook announcements heralding its arrival), there’s a trailer for A Serious Man, which is due out in just two months. I suspect part of the reason that the movie has been able to fly under the radar as well as it has is because it’s a largely no-name cast. The biggest names in the movie are Richard Kind, Adam Arkin, and Fyvush Finkel — who knew he was still alive?!

The logline: A black comedy set in 1967 and centered on on Larry Gopnik, a Midwestern professor who watches his life unravel when his wife prepares to leave him because his inept brother won’t move out of the house.

And here’s the trailer:


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Comments

Hmmmm. I like it.

Posted by: Jay at July 30, 2009 10:08 AM

The opening head+locker beat was so reminiscent of the opening of O Brother, Where Art Thou? Except more peppy and infinitely more chill-inducing. To quote Jay, "I like it."

Posted by: Ling at July 30, 2009 10:12 AM

I love the Cohens. Look at their filmography list, it's practically a reading of the best films of all time. Everyone has a film of theirs that they absolutely love, even if they hate all the others. What other directors can you say that about, okay, but besides Stanley Kubrick?

Posted by: George at July 30, 2009 10:23 AM

That trailer was completely awesome. The Cohen brothers never disappoint me. Except for Burn After Reading. That was a little disappointing. But I get what they were trying to do and there were some very funny parts. Maybe it wasn't so disappointing. It's on HBO so I might watch it again. But the crazy violence can be jarring and I have a big weekend coming up. Next week. Yeah, I'll get back to everyone about this next week. Wait, no I won't. That's stupid. Nobody gives a shit what I think about this. Who the hell do I think I am, The Pope? Wow, that was a stupid reference. The Pope doesn't even know what a blog is, let alone share his feelings on it. And it would be in German or Latin and who speaks that shit? Germans and Latinos, that's who. Huh. I just answered my own rhetorical question. Is that allowed? Oooh, that coffee is making noise down there. I gotta go.

Posted by: Kballs at July 30, 2009 10:29 AM

I have only three thoughts about this:

1) The Coen Brothers are obviously ninjas. That explains EVERYTHING.

2) Fyvush Finkel = BEST. NAME. EVER.

3) The movie looks pretty good. I mean yeah, Burn After Reading was really just a pleasant little palate cleanser to old you over after No Country For Old Men until they released their next piece of Oscar Bait, but maybe this one will have a little more substance to it all.

Posted by: Jeremy Feist at July 30, 2009 10:31 AM

I am predicting, regardless of how the film turns out, that this will end up in Trailer Appreciation.

Posted by: Vermillion at July 30, 2009 10:37 AM

i won't know how i feel about this until i see the mass-marketing-viral-morning-show-behind-the-scenes-overexposure.

Posted by: gp at July 30, 2009 10:41 AM

Well of course I'll see it. But for now, I really feel like banging my head against the wall.

Posted by: admin at July 30, 2009 10:41 AM

Fyvush! One gathers he was the fifth child in his family (Oneush, Twoush, Threeush ...).

Damn, I miss him and Ray Walston playing off each other on "Picket Fences."

Posted by: , (the commenter formerly known as bucdaddy) at July 30, 2009 10:52 AM

Am I the only person who hated this trailer?

Then again, I'm Jewish (OK, atheist) and my husband finally got tenure, so maybe it's hitting a little too close to home.

Posted by: BWeaves at July 30, 2009 11:07 AM

From that very brief trailer, this seems very thematically similar to The Man Who Wasn't There. Obviously I'll have to wait to see the movie, but since I got through The Hudsucker Proxy that seems likely to happen.

Strangely enough; never seen The Big Lebowski straight through. Perhaps because every time I try and watch it, some jack ass comes in and starts trying to parrot all the lines back at me but screwing them up and ruining the experience. I might just have to rent it, barricade myself in my room, turn my phone off, and set my facebook status to "I am not doing anything of interest to anyone" to get through it.

Posted by: Genny (actually Rusty now) at July 30, 2009 11:22 AM

Thank God for the Coen Btothers.
That is all.
Oh... well, thanks for Kballs too because THAT, my friend, was hilarious.

Posted by: JenVegas at July 30, 2009 11:28 AM

Filmed right down the street here in the Mpls 'burbs!!! Very excited.

Posted by: Chris P. at July 30, 2009 12:08 PM

Wow. I fucking loved that trailer. That's the first trailer for a Coen Brothers movie that made me want to see it. Normally I just end up seeing it because they made it, but now I'm legitimately interested in this film.

Posted by: Christian H. at July 30, 2009 12:15 PM

I loves me some Coens.

I am kind of embarrassed to admit this, but I secretly think that the Hudsucker Proxy is a seriously underrated movie. I watch it every time it's on.

This is no longer a secret.

Posted by: eastvillagenyc73 at July 30, 2009 12:24 PM

Where's the funny?

For the most part, I love the Cohen Brothers and I'm mad for black comedies. But that trailer didn't really draw me in.

I guess I'll have to patiently stew.

Posted by: Cindy at July 30, 2009 12:59 PM

This looks incredible. Even if it isn't (and you know it's going to be at least a piece of awesome pie), the trailer is art all by itself. Why the fuck did they leave Miller's Crossing out of the scroll?

Posted by: HappyGobo at July 30, 2009 1:08 PM

Rusty, that is a crime. Speaking as one of those people, I apologize. We'll shut up so you can watch the movie.

Posted by: Macafee at July 30, 2009 2:12 PM

The face-against-the-blackboard runs throughout the trailer, before an image from film is even seen, like a mantra.

You do mean ALAN Arkin though, yes?

Not the first time that's happened on this site.

Posted by: Recondite at July 30, 2009 4:26 PM

Nevermind, it's ADAM; I stand corrected.

Posted by: Recondite at July 30, 2009 4:28 PM

I'll see anything they make. And Hudsucker Proxy is one of my all-time, very favorite movies! And yes, Kballs, watch BAR on HBO. I was a little 'hmm' when I saw it in the theater, but we watched it again the other night and I thought it was damn funny!

Posted by: fenchurch at July 30, 2009 4:44 PM

Finally.

My coworkers and I saw this being filmed across the street. We were in a tizzy for about 10 minutes.

They were filming in the parking lot of The Sports Page, a bar that we occasionally go to for lunch or a happy hour after work (the burgers are grease bombs, but they have 1919 root beer on tap).

This summer they have completely redone the outside of the strip mall in brand new baby-shit-brown paint, no doubt from the money they received for allowing the movie to be filmed in the parking lot. The new signs are all in capital letters. Lucky me, I have the cube on the outer wall with the windows, so that shit box yells at me all day TOOL RAIDER and COMPUTERS DIRT CHEAP!

So, thanks for that Cohen Brothers.

I might consider forgiving you if the movie is as amazing as the trailer.

Posted by: Morgagod at July 30, 2009 7:36 PM

It all feels too familar.

If somebody had just dropped me a link to this trailer, I still would have guessed who it was by.

They're in their comfort zone, they need to step out of it.

Posted by: elzupasmonkey at July 30, 2009 8:22 PM

Morgagod: Is that in the Twin Cities area? I remember hearing some rumors last summer about the Coen Brothers filming there, but then didn't really hear much else about it. When I saw this post I immediately wondered if this is that movie.

Posted by: giovanni at July 30, 2009 9:35 PM

I had to stop at :55, all the fucking edits were bringing on an epileptic seizure. Seriously, isn't there such a thing as too many edits? My brain moves slower than my eyes, so my comprehension is always about 3-4 edits behind.

*pulls Mountaineer musket from desk drawer, aims at PC*

This will stop RIGHT NOW!

Posted by: , (the commenter formerly known as bucdaddy) at July 30, 2009 11:34 PM

giovanni Yes, they filmed at two locations in Bloomington. You can see the shitstain of a mall on Lyndale.

Posted by: Morgagod at July 31, 2009 9:51 AM

If you come down to take a look, please don't stand at my window and stare at me. It creeps me out.

Ever since the maintenance guys saw me eating half a cucumber with no hands (you try formatting a spreadsheet with one hand) they mow really slow when they come by the side of the building. I close the shades on Tuesdays.

Posted by: Morgagod at July 31, 2009 10:06 AM

And by eating, I mean: innocently-holding-half-a-cucumber-in-my-mouth-between-bites-to-utilize-the copy/paste-function.

Whatever, STARING IS RUDE!

You see what these signs make me do? If I collapse on the floor mumbling about italics and caps lock just put me out of my misery.

Posted by: Morgagod at July 31, 2009 10:13 AM

*Stares slackjawed at Morgagod*

Posted by: Kballs at July 31, 2009 10:31 AM

What? Just rinse it, snap it in half (easier than you would think) and go to town and the sweet, sweet flesh.

A cucumber is one of the few foods I eat without a fork. I love cucumbers.

Posted by: Morgagod at July 31, 2009 10:58 AM

Go to town *on*

I blame the diaper smear of the building outside my window.

Posted by: Morgagod at July 31, 2009 11:01 AM

Yes yes YESSSSSS.

Posted by: Nora Rocket at July 31, 2009 7:37 PM