Charlie Chaplin once said, "Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot." When I first watched A Serious Man (around 2016), I mostly thought it was weird and boring. Nothing really happens, there's a ton of loose ends, and I felt just as adrift as the main character Larry.
But over the next ten years (especially the last three), I realized that A Serious Man, zoomed out, really is a comedy. Larry wants answers, and the first time I watched, I did too. Now, knowing that he never gets them, I find his fruitless search quite endearing. After all, we're all searching for answers, and we all need to accept the uncertainty along the way. A Serious Man unflinchingly examines what we should do, and how we should live, when it feels like there's nothing we can do.