A Serious Man Makes a Serious Plan

A couple of weeks ago, my genial co-host and I sat together through a couple of hours of pure cinematic expression, as the Coen Brothers’ ‘A Serious Man’ unfolded before us.  Larry Gopnik, the protagonist of this film, one of the most exciting and compelling either of us has seen this year, starts off in a bad place, and ends ambiguously, as the tornadoes of fate stir up around him.  Along the way, the best and perhaps worst aspects of religion hit him squarely in the soul; family falls apart and mends; a life takes place.  Job – for this is his story – is invited to curse God in the midst of his adversity; will he?  won’t he?  will we?  ‘A Serious Man’ doesn’t strictly answer this question, but does something better: it suggests the meaning of life, and the only way to get through when things are at their toughest.  (Want a clue?  Ask Grace Slick.  Or go see the film.)

A Serious Man Waves a Serious Hand

Why this matters today?  Well, not to put too fine a point on it, The Film Talk is going through a valley of its own – we aren’t suffering like Larry Gopnik, but we are at a point of crisis, which as we know, in ancient cultures means something like a combination of the words for ‘we love doing TFT’ and ‘we need your money’.  So, we enter a momentous week in the existence of TFT.  In the coming hours, perhaps even by this time tomorrow, we shall launch our much-considered platform for allowing the show and the site to continue on a better-resourced footing, with regular content both written and auditory, more interviews, and the benignly conflictual repartee you have come to know and hopefully love from your co-hosts.  Call it a rescue mission, like the ones Lee Marvin’s Dirty Dozen would do, call it an emergency attempt to get a job just before Christmas like the one Dustin Hoffman’s Kramer makes, call it the last best hope of humankind, as so many movie icons have been called before.  Call it A Serious Plan.  But please call it something, and check back regularly with us this week as the plan unfolds.  We’re glad to have you with us.

Serious Man With Serious Hands Beseeches His Fans