After two largely awful attempts at comedy (Intolerable Cruelty, The Ladykillers), the Coen Brothers blew away the world of cinema with a potent adaptation of the novel No Country for Old Men, a philosophical glance at the role of violence in our life. They followed that up with a flawed but entertaining madcap comedy, Burn After Reading, and seem to be continuing in mood with their upcoming A Serious Man.

The trailer above is a well-crafted 90 seconds of footage that reveals little about the plot. Most probably because there is not much of a plot to this comedic drama. The story follows Larry Gopnik, an academic living and working in 1960s Minneapolis. After his wife wants to leave him it seems poor Larry is trying to find meaning and understanding in hiw life, which is falling apart around him due to the assistance of an utterly disfunctional family.

It’s interesting to see the Coen brothers make a film that seems particularly unambitious. Indeed, you’d almost risk believing that it’s the most personal film the directing duo have made, dealing with their childhood in Minneapolis and their academic parents. Is this the Coen brothers making a Woody Allen film? It’s hard to tell from the trailer, but the amusing attempt to construct Larry’s problems (being bashed against a wall, the hacking coughs of his apparently uncaring rabbi) into a soundtrack of anxiety works well to transform the concept of a humdrum life into a funny tale.

A Serious Man is released in the US in October.