If a successful comedy can be likened to a 95-yard sustained drive toward the end zone, an unsuccessful one would be a kickoff return. The one holds our attention for its entirety — the other ignites a burst of interest which quickly slackens. Two comedies, “A Serious Man,” and “The Men Who Stare at Goats,” are being marketed for their humor, but only one of them ends up being worth watching for its full length.Recently sneaking into Baton Rouge and almost on its way out is “A Serious Man,” the latest release from directors Joel and Ethan Coen (“The Big Lebowski.”) The film is concerned with the family and work-related trials of Larry Gopnik, a physics professor.Gopnik is up for tenure at the university, but the committee has second thoughts on his qualification because he has not published any papers. His wife, Judith, has asked him to move out of the house because she has fallen in love with an older widower. Meanwhile, his asocial brother, Arthur, who is working on a book on mathematics, is wanted by the police for gaming some gamblers.Gopnik attempts to find solace from three rabbis who prove unhelpful in finding a greater meaning to his trials. “Why me?” he wonders. Is God causing his world to fall apart or is his fate ultimately meaningless? Unlike his forebear, Job, Gopnik is stranded in his uncertainty, getting only divine silence.I have been ambivalent about most of the Coen brothers’ corpus for a long time. Even when I acknowledge their films as very well made, there seems to be something artificial about them — like eating canned fruit. Maybe it’s their reliance on funny accents or the misogyny inherent in their violent scenes. Though the Coens’ seem to have films that are respected rather than liked, “A Serious Man” proves to be well-written and expertly directed.The film is expressively Jewish in content and outlook. Like most of the others, the characters are caricatures, yet here they appear to draw us closer to the tragedy in the plot, instead of alienating us by artifice. “A Serious Man” features a lot of static shots with long takes, so we dwell on the faces of the characters, patiently waiting until they provide greater meaning. Speech is also emphasized through repetition, so the same words are used numerous times in different contexts, each time reinforcing an overarching message.If “A Serious Man” appears bizarre and the ending seems befuddling, don’t be alarmed. Follow the hint of one of its characters: “Embrace the mystery.””The Men Who Stare at Goats” is a film adaptation of Jon Ronson’s book about the U.S. military’s use of paranormal warfare and is the debut effort of director Grant Heslov. The film features performances by George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey. Bob Wilton (McGregor), a journalist with an Ann Arbor newspaper, decides to escape his troubles by travelling to Kuwait to cover the Iraq War. Stranded in Kuwait City, Wilton meets Lyn Cassidy (Clooney), a former operative with a secretive U.S. army psych-ops team known as the Jedi Knights. Wilton accompanies Cassidy to Ramadi, Iraq. They get kidnapped by Iraqis along the journey, meet curious characters like Bill Django and end up freeing a bunch of captive debleated goats.”The Men Who Stare at Goats” initially hauls in the jokes, especially when we learn about the Knights appropriating New Age teaching to combat situations — imagine Von Clausewitz’s “Art of War” inspired by LSD. After this fertile period, the humor gradually peters out. The filmmakers ride their one-trick pony until the nag refuses to move an inch. How many variations on men in fatigues getting high are needed before the audience gets the joke? There was an opportunity to ridicule the disturbing ways funds are spent on military research or the hubris in believing that war can be fought to end war. Instead, “The Men Who Stare at Goats” is a tepid comedy using the current war as cinematic backdrop.Freke Ette is a political theory graduate student from Uyo, Nigeria. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_fette.—–Contact Freke Ette at [email protected]