Clearly, “A Serious Man” is a take-off on the story of Job, but there are too many other events going on in the story to be so overly simplistic. Professor Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) is an average middle-class Jewish-American who has done nothing wrong. Suddenly, his days are plagued as his wife prepares to leaves him, he wrecks his car, he may not get tenure, and his bank account is wiped out. But certain motifs keep recurring, and particular images pop up over and over again.

One of two fantastic moments in Robert Zemeckis’ adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” features Ebeneezer Scrooge (Jim Carrey) walking up a high flight of stairs, lighting his way with a singlular light source—a candle—emanating just enough light around the corners of the frame to see what’s visible on the edge. Near the end of the movie, Scrooge tells a group of dinner guests, “No, you can’t take it with you,” probably responding to a question regarding money.

These are two distinct references to classic films: the former example suggests John Ford’s “The Grapes of Wrath”, another film about yearning and want; and the latter clearly hints at Frank Capra’s “You Can’t Take It With You,” which is about another cantankerous old man in need of prioritizing his focus on his finances.