8. A Serious Man (2009)
Arguably one of the best anti-climaxes in the history of cinema. A Serious Man sought to cement its riffing on faith and destiny in a manner consistent with their similarly ambiguous No Country for Old Men (as covered above). Much more efficiently in this film, however, the Coens make it clear that they aren't just trying to screw with us, and the anti-climax has a point of sorts. The whole film revolves around a Jewish professor, Lawrence Gopnick (Michael Stuhlbarg), who decries a God that seemingly continues to smite him, having his wife cheat on him with an acquaintance, such that he ends up living at a motel with his brother Arthur (Richard Kind), while his professional life goes to pot at the same time. After finally accepting his circumstances and deciding the path of least resistance, Lawrence accepts a bribe in order to pass one of his student, and at the climax of the film, his chickens certainly come home to roost... Lawrence is in his office as he receives a phone call from his doctor, urging him to come to the office to talk about a recent chest X-ray. Just then, a tornado rolls into town, as Lawrence's son, among other children, try and get into a storm cellar, just when the film cuts to black. It's a wonderfully bleak way to end the film, but also a hilarious one; after resisting corruption for so long in the name of being a "good Jew" and believing that this was all part of a plan, he finally turns his back on it, just as he receives a grim diagnosis and the town looks to be possibly destroyed. As a loose interpretation of the Book of Job, its final statement that, indeed, bad things happen for no reason, feels extremely potent, and hilariously ironic. One of the Coens' best films by far.