The Coen brothers have a filmography filled with movies that could all be nominated as their best, and nearly every one would have a claim to the title. So to call A Serious Man their best movie is as unnecessary as it is impossible to prove. However, it's hard to deny what a feat of filmmaking and storytelling their bizarre 2009 black comedy-drama is.

Here, the Coens combine themes they have touched on in nearly every previous film. the best movie endings of the century.

Arthur Is Despondent About His Charges

Larry Learns His Brother Is Accused Of Sodomy And Soliciting

Larry's brother, Arthur (Richard Kind), is a hilarious addition to A Serious Man. He moves in with Larry's family, having no job prospects, and filing his time with the "Mentaculua", a notebook of strange drawings that he thinks could be a probability map for the universe. Between taking forever in the bathroom, and his sleep apnea mask, Arthur is the quintessential annoying uncle whose very presence is enough to drive his niece and nephew crazy. However, late in the film, something happens to Arthur that paints the man in a much more despondent light.

Police show up at Larry's home with Arthur in handcuffs, and they explain to the confused Larry that Arthur is being charged with illegal gambling, solicitation, and sodomy. It's with this reveal that the idyllic 60s suburban setting gets a bit more unnerving. Arthur is a Jewish criminal, suspected of being gay, and he's being yanked around by white, Christian-looking cops in the middle of America. The suggestions of police brutality and homophobia are hard to ignore.

When Arthur and Larry are thrown out of Larry's house, Arthur breaks down in the motel pool, crying out to God and Larry, feeling like he's been treated unfairly all his life. He points to Larry as the lucky one, something Larry is astounded to hear. Later, Larry has a dream that he helps his brother escape to Canada, only for his neighbors to shoot Arthur dead. He awakes in a sweat.

Sy Ableman Dies In A Car Crash

Sy Is Called A Serious Man

"Sy Ableman?" various people ask Larry to repeat throughout A Serious Man when he reveals who his wife is leaving him for. Sy Ableman (Fred Melamed) is a professor at the same college Larry teaches at, and instead of being a brash, rude adulterer, Sy is sickeningly kind, wrapping Larry in a big hug when he first meets him. One of Melamed's best moments comes when he and Larry's wife, Judith (Sari Lennick), gently tell Larry that it would make the most sense for Larry to move out. Why that makes the most sense for Larry is left unsaid.

A Serious Man takes place in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, the same place the Coen brothers were born and grew up.

Sy and Larry both get in simultaneous car crashes at the end of A Serious Man and while Larry is no worse for wear, Sy dies. For a reason unbeknownst to Larry, he is coerced into paying for Sy's funeral by a sobbing Judith. At Sy's funeral, he is recognized as, "a serious man." It's the only mention of the title in the whole movie.

Danny's Bar Mitzvah Goes Well And He Meets Rabbi Marshak

Larry And Judith Reconcile

Larry's son, Danny (Aaron Wolff), has spent the movie preparing for his bar mitzvah, but he mostly smokes weed, watches TV, and avoids his intimidating bully, Mike Fagle (Jon Kaminski Jr.), who wants the $20 he's owed. Before his bar mitzvah, Danny smokes a lot of marijuana in the bathroom, so much, that when he walks up to recite the Torah, the Coens film with a fish-eye that produces an anxious feeling that anyone who has been under the influence of marijuana will recognize.

Just when it seems like Danny is going to out, he places down the yad and reads his age perfectly, much to everyone's relief. It's one of the few things that goes right in A Serious Man, and it leads to some more wins for Larry. His wife apologizes to him and says Sy wrote him a letter of recommendation for tenure. Larry smiles as the still-high Danny goes to have a one-on-one meeting with the mysterious and seldom-seen Rabbi Marshak.

The ancient Rabbi stares at Danny before slowly saying,

"When the truth is found. To be lies. And all the hope. Within you dies. Then what? Grace Slick. Marty Balin. Paul Kanta. Jorma... something. These are the membas [sic] of the Airplane. Interesting. Here. Be a good boy."

With that spoken word version of the Jefferson Airplane song, "Somebody to Love", Marshak hands Danny the walkman that was confiscated at the beginning of the movie, which contains the $20 he owes Fagle, and sends the boy on his way. All is well.

Larry Changes Clive's Grade From An F To A C-

Danny And His Classmates Evacuate For A Tornado

Back in his office, things are looking somewhat up in Larry's life for once. It's not great, but things are getting slightly better. His son ed his bar mitzvah, his wife seems interested in reconciling, and when his colleague walks in with a big smile but zipped lips, Larry's all but certain he's wrapped up tenure. There's just one more matter to take care of: Clive's (David Kang) grade. After receiving a bill from Arthur's lawyer for $3000, Larry decides changing an F to a C- is worth getting the money from Clive's father.

Then the phone rings. That trilling that interrupts the scene is as much a jump scare as anything that's been seen in horror movies, and what comes next is just as ominous. It's Larry's doctor from the beginning of the movie who was screening for cancer. He would like Larry to come in. As soon as possible. Larry can only stare into space. Back at Hebrew school, Danny and his classmates evacuate the classroom to go to a storm shelter during a tornado warning.

Out in the parking lot, the students mill around as the wind picks up, and their teacher struggles to find the right key for the shelter. Danny sees Fagle and yells that he has the bully's money. But Fagle isn't looking at David. He's looking at a swirling mass of wind touching down from the sky a football field away. David adjusts his eyes as a massive tornado forms and lurches towards the school. As he looks on, Jefferson Airplane picks up over his earbuds. "You better find somebody to love," screams out Slick, as the credits roll.

The Real Meaning Of A Serious Man's Ending

Larry's Faith Is Tested To The Extreme

A Serious Man considers a lot in its relatively short, one-hour and 46-minute runtime. There's no solution to the Coen brothers film, just a few ideas that can be gleamed like a magic eye puzzle with multiple images embedded. What's always been a curious question about A Serious Man is whether Larry "deserved" the treatment he received. There are numerous parallels to the Book of Job in A Serious Man, the biblical story about a man whose life is ruined by God so as to show the devil that man does not need riches to love him.

The final scene suggests his decision to sin and change Clive's grade has resulted in God striking him down with cancer and his son with a disaster, but there are other explanations for why these things happen to Larry.

Larry's life begins its nose dive from the moment the movie begins, and he's not sure why, hence his constant refrain, "What is going on?" This is both a specific and a general question. He has no idea why these things are happening to him. The final scene suggests his decision to sin and change Clive's grade has resulted in God striking him down with cancer and his son with a disaster, but there are other explanations for why these things happen to Larry.

Perhaps he is just unlucky, a victim of an uncaring universe, which is a common Coen brothers theme. Maybe his life is good after all, compared to Arthur's at least, and he should take stock of the good he has. Maybe his family is cursed, and his ancestor really killed a man instead of a Dybbuk in the film's prologue. Don't ask the Coen brothers. They're not even sure if that was a Dybbuk, as the credits for A Serious Man read, "Fyvush Finkel as Dybbuk?".