The Last Movie I Saw

I've been a big fan of the work of Joel and Ethan Coen ever since their first film Blood Simple. I count several of their movies-- Raising Arizona, Miller's Crossing, O Brother Where Art Thou?-- among my all-time favorites. Even the few times they didn't hit a home run (like with The Hudsocker Proxy), I was always willing to concede that they'd tried something interesting. But now they've made a film that left me cold, a film that seemed as misanthropic as many critics have long seen as a staple of their filmography, but which I always thought was tempered by at least some genuine affection for their offbeat protagonists (maybe best symbolized by Marge Gunderson in Fargo, or The Dude in The Big Lebowski). A Serious Man though betrays no such affection: the main character, evidently cursed by the sins of his ancestors, while superficially a nice enough guy is so emotionally disconnected from his family and neighbors as to render his escalating series of misfortunes as something akin to justice. It's not exactly that he deserves everything he gets, but there's little offered here to allow the audience to develop some heartfelt sympathy for the guy. There's a fair amount of the trademark Coen archness on display (especially in relation to the adventures of the protagonist's son) to spark some dark laughter, but in the end this movie just left a bitter taste in my mouth. I'm sure I'll watch it again, and maybe something will click (it took a second viewing for me to really enjoy The Big Lebowski) , but at the moment this seems a disappointment.