Last Saturday at the Hop, I watched A Serious Man—the sixth movie I’ve watched out of the ten nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

It was a good movie, simply said. I enjoyed the movie even more than Up in the Air—another dark comedy—which was well-written, but unfortunately plagued with obvious moral judgments of its protagonist’s lifestyle. The acting in A Serious Man was definitely the best of all the Best Picture nominees I’ve seen so far.

A Serious Man is full of dark, almost absurd humor told on a subtle, even keel. You’ll find the plot quite familiar if you are familiar with the story of Job in the Bible. Larry, the protagonist, is a good, normal, serious man who’s suddenly plagued with troubles at home and at work.

Some seemingly strange bits are directly tied to Job and other Bible stories. Larry’s monitoring of a beautiful naked woman from his rooftop echoes the story of David and Bathsheba; a random tornado at the end of the film mirrors God’s final answer to Job’s laments over his fate.

Not only did I appreciate these Biblical references, but I also appreciated being immersed in the Jewish-American landscape of the 1960s. It was a rare depiction that was done well—artfully, eloquently and certainly not stereotypically. The landscape felt real, updating an old parable and bringing Job into the twentieth century.

Like Job in the Bible, Larry wonders why Hashem seems to be punishing him unfairly. But the story was also a nice touch on a very human theme that anyone with a notion of a god or morality could understand: why do bad things happen to good people?

The award-winning directors Joel and Ethan Coen have done it again. I’ll be disappointed if this movie doesn’t win Best Picture. I heartily recommend A Serious Man.