Inside Llewyn Davis (FILM REVIEW)
Inside
Llewyn Davis
Film Review
by Kam Williams
Coen Bros Musical Chronicles a Couple of Weeks in the Life of Fledgling Folksinger
It’s Greenwich Village in the middle
of the winter of 1961, and Llewyn Davis (Oscar Issac) is so down on his luck that he can’t afford an
overcoat, let alone a place to live. The fledgling folksinger’s fortunes have gone
into a tailspin ever since the other half of his musical duo committed suicide
in spite of the modest success of their debut album, “If We Had Wings.”
Nowadays, Llewyn devotes less time to
launching his solo career than looking for the next place to spend the night. For,
the feckless freeloader really knows how to wear out his welcome, whether by
letting his hosts’ (Ethan Phillips and Robin Bartlett) house cat escape onto
the street, or by sleeping with the wife (Carey Mulligan) of a pal (Justin
Timberlake) who let him crash on the couch.
The plot thickens when Jean let’s
Llewyn know she’s pregnant and doesn’t know whether he or her husband is the
father. So, while he’s constantly caught up in drama of his own making, other
aspiring troubadours, like the young Bob Dylan (Benjamin Pike), are busy making
the most of opportunities to impress producers and to cultivate a following at trendy
nightclubs.
Written and directed by Ethan and
Joel Coen, Inside Llewyn Davis is a genre-bending adventure that’s impossible
to pigeonhole. Part-musical, part-comedy, part bittersweet portrait of a
lovable loser, the enigmatic masterpiece unfolds over the course of a couple of
very eventful weeks in the life of a hopeless slacker who can’t seem to get out
of his own way.
The film features such familiar hallmarks
of a Coen Bros production as a profusion of quirky characters, a compelling
storyline, humorous asides ranging from subtle non-sequiturs to simplistic
slapstick, and an original soundtrack by the incomparable T-Bone Burnett (O Brother,
Where Art Thou?) seamlessly sewn into the painstakingly-recreated period piece.
Yet, Inside Llewyn Davis is also
refreshingly unique, thanks to an endlessly-inventive script which there’s no
reason to anticipate. Instead, just sit back and bask in the glow of a nostalgic
cinematic treat best served unspoiled.
Manhattan ’61 revisited!
Excellent
(4 stars)
R for profanity and some sexual references
Running time: 105 minutes
Distributor: CBS Films
To see a trailer for Inside
Llewyn Davis, visit:
http://www.insidellewyndavis.com/videos
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