A Serious Man by the Cohen Brothers

Yeah, there are spoilers but for the most part that is permissible; I mean how much would it affect a person's appreciation of "The Big Lebowski" to know beforehand who had taken the money?
Because of the inaccessibility of the film at this time all quotations should be considered paraphrases.
Lastly, this is going to be a full blown paper, not a casual review. If you want a review here it is: if you liked most Cohen Brothers movies you'll like this one. Just be warned it is most like "Barton Fink" of all their films.

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When I was fifteen my Mom sat her remaining children down and made us listen to "She's Leaving Home," a little noticed Beatles song on "Sgt Pepper's Lonelyhearts Club Band." Already a fringe figure in the family, my mother had little influence in the future direction of our lives. She seemed to grasp at what little hope she had and stressed how important it was that we understood that song. At sixteen I said "yeah, yeah, yeah." but did listen and in future Beatle enjoyment paid extra attention to the meaning of that song.

The Cohen Brother's latest film "A Serious Mind" is the kind of movie I would show my children if I felt that their lives were heading towards soullessness and I had little influence to use to steer them towards a meaningful life. Sadly, there is no one I think that would understand the movie as I do... unless it is my Mom. The central theme of "A Serious Man" can be found in the film when the ancient rabbi quotes the Jefferson Airplane song: "'When the truth is found to be lies/And the hope within you dies,' what... do... you... do?" The central theme of "A Serious Man" is that the neat, rational paradigm of twentieth century America has shown itself to be false and offers no hope for those who trust in it. This theme is expressed through the setting, of the 1960's, where American society came close to social collapse, the struggle of Larry Gopnik, the protagonist, who is looking for meaning in his troubles while desiring to believe in an ordered, moral, meaningful universe in the midst of life shattering problems. The theme which is mostly seen as the struggle of Larry has consequences on his whole family but it is mostly clearly shown in the danger to his son. His son seems largely indifferent to his father's troubles though he is not ignorant. At school his main concern is getting twenty dollars, at home his main concern is the reception of his television. But regardless of his ignorance and indifference it is clearly shown that the Larry's failure to find an answer will still be a storm which his son must endure.