CAPSULES

‘A Serious Man’

(Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Fred Melamed) Life couldn’t be worse for Larry Gopnik (Stuhlbarg), an embattled physics professor in an unnamed Midwestern city circa 1967: His wife (Sari Lennick) is leaving him for another man (Melamed), his crazy brother (Kind) refuses to leave the bathroom, the kids disrespect him and his bosses aren’t sure if he should be granted tenure. This tale of malaise is one of the Coen Bros.’ (“No Country For Old Men”) best, largely because of the way a sense of foreboding doom pervades ordinary life. Special kudos to Broadway veteran Stuhlbarg as the ultimate beta male who can’t win. Rated R. ‘Where the Wild Things Are’  Max Records, Voices of James Gandolfini, Catherine O’Hara) Young Max (Records) gets in a fight with his mother (Catherine Keener) and runs away to an imaginary world of humungous creatures that treat Max as their king. It’s fun to watch Max interact with the creatures, but a story that goes nowhere and builds to nothing makes the movie feel tiresome very quickly. It’s ironic and a bit sad that the best moments come in the first 15 minutes, as Max plays near his home. Based on the beloved children’s book by Maurice Sendak. Rated PG.

‘Law Abiding Citizen’

(Gerard Butler, Jamie Foxx, Colm Meaney) Ten years after his wife and daughter were murdered, a family man (Butler) seeks revenge on the justice system that allowed one of the murderers to go free. The film’s social commentary gets lost in the plot holes and gratuitous violence, but as a whole this is a fresh idea that’s always entertaining. Rated R. 