If fortune truly favours the brave, it's no surprise that the hen-pecked, mild-mannered good egg at the centre of Joel and Ethan Coen's new black comedy is pummelled senseless by bad luck.

Set in a Jewish community in a mid-1960s Minneapolis reminiscent of the film-maker brothers' own childhoods, A Serious Man is a portrait of a family in crisis, distinguished by a sharp script and terrific ensemble cast.

An opening quotation from 11th-century rabbi Rashi ("receive with simplicity everything that happens to you'') sows the seeds of foreboding, which blossom during a deliciously dark, Yiddish-language prologue set in a 19th-century Polish shtetl.

In this small Jewish village, a couple come face-to-face with a dybbuk (an evil spirit from folklore), which curses them for eternity.

The stylish vignette neatly foreshadows the misfortune that will assail the film's 20th century protagonist.

University physics lecturer Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg, pictured, hugging Fred Melamed) is knocked for six when wife Judith (Sari Lennick) announces she wants a divorce so she can marry their mutual friend Sy (Melamed).

The children don't appear fussed: daughter Sarah (Jessica McManus) only wants her father around to pay for a nose job, while teenage son Danny (Aaron Wolff) just needs him to fiddle with the aerial on the roof so he can receive his favourite television programme.

Adding to poor Larry's woes, one of his students (David Kang) seems to think he can bribe his way to a passing grade, and his brother Arthur (Richard Kind) is making a nuisance of himself at all hours of the day with a troublesome sebaceous cyst.

Unable to make contact with the chief rabbi, Larry tries to sort out his myriad problems himself – but every good deed only leads to more misery.

A Serious Man drops us squarely into the mounting devastation of Larry's once-idyllic life as, one by one, all of the people closest to him push him away. Even the chief rabbi, whose wise counsel could help him make sense of the misery, refuses to see him.

Stuhlbarg adopts a permanent look of incredulity as the caring family man struggling to make sense of the cards that life has dealt him.

The supporting cast vividly bring their roles to life – Wolff is extremely watchable as the rock 'n' roll-mad teenager fast approaching his bar mitzvah – as the Coens add flecks of humour, some of them causing us to wince almost as much as the characters.

Rating: 4/5