Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)'s comments

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mpouk

Closer in style to smaller scale and more esoteric films in the Coen's canon like "The man who wasn't there", "Barton Fink", and "A serious man", than their more widely received films, it is nevertheless one of their best films in their exceptional 30 year career. Few films have portrayed artistic failure in a way to make it seem inseparable from success and even fewer have had such an unforgiving take on their main character who is consistently arrogant, obnoxious, selfish yet not entirely unsympathetic. The Coen's sardonically demystify the fringe art milieu together with a hellish rendering of an "On the road" inspired journey. Subtle, brilliantly acted and observed, certainly one of the best movies of 2013.

10 years 5 months ago

psdantonio

I know, I know, I know...marketing. But, Oscar Isaac should have had the poster billing to himself because the movie rests solely on his shoulders for its entire duration.

Very good, I recommend.

10 years 3 months ago

JCL

brilliant & beautiful. loved the cat plot.

10 years 4 months ago

dchauvin

cat

10 years 2 months ago

Scratch47

Weaving and mastering their 'confused character study' elements into a vivid mapping of a time gone by, this is a deadpan, quirky, surreal, and menacing work that both feels tight, and expands to meet its' ambitions, as we've come to expect from the Coens. Great performances, from an acidic Carey Mulligan and on-point John Goodman (who channels his Barton Fink character hilariously in one scene), but particularly from a stellar Oscar Isaac, who sure as hell can carry a tune as well. The film mocks the 'artist's journey' archetype savagely, inverting the stereotype coldly and taking pleasure in frustration, which had the curious effect to me of making it more approachable for respecting my intelligence. You end up wondering if the lead character is a frustrated unappreciated genius trying to make his way, or just an snide, unfortunate 'asshole' who has no one to blame but himself for his chronic humilations getting the better of him. Truth is, he's often both at the same time. There's a mastery of frame and tone here that recalls the brothers' best work, it's focused inwardly, leaving the viewer on edge, which heightens the way Llewyn consistently shoots himself in the foot from desire to shake off a trite success. It's fairly simple in narrative, yet through being so emotionally and thematically sophisticated around it's character study, the film feels insular and shrouded in mystery and doesn't give a conclusive reading. We never really get a look inside Llewyn Davis. But that fact simply reflects on the blockaded mental fortress of the main character, and makes the final viewing a rich and sad look at an artist's rage against the dying of the light. Another great work from some of the most reliable artists in the business. (Plus I love cats, so that's just the icing).

10 years 3 months ago

sixteenmiles

My empathy for Llewyn Davis was perhaps a little bit close to home. The film left me feeling profoundly sad about my own life and my own frustrating creative failures. This is what gripped me to the film more than anything and kept me invested in this character. All I wanted out of the film was for him to succeed, because in my mind that meant that I could succeed too.

9 years 1 month ago

NourNasreldin

I'm speechless. My favorite Coen Brothers film, that's for sure. I don't understand why all the credit is going to Goodman here when Oscar Isaac was truly terrific. His performance was irresistibly breathtaking. I could've sworn this role was written for him.

The cinematography blew me away. Stylistically speaking, this is the best of the Coens. This film really does prove that the brothers are true artists.

10 years 3 months ago

Henry K Hurtin

What was so great about Goodman?? Liked the movie but why all the praise for Goodman?

10 years 4 months ago

Siskoid

I can see the Cohen Bros.' new film, Inside Llewyn Davis, will be controversial. It's a kind of anti-film that trades on your formulaic expectations, assuming rightly that you will root for the struggling artist at the heart of this story - a folk singer in the 60s - but then proceeds to present a portrait of a man who can't make connections in his life, whether with his audience, in his personal life, or as a protagonist, leaving many things unresolved and ambiguous. Llewyn is not a likable character, but that's the point. He's a fake. He's not authentic like the other characters in the story. He can't tell genuine from false, a theme that recurs in different ways throughout his rather pathetic, pointless and recursive odyssey. Which isn't to say his music isn't good, his and other artists' numbers are solid, but he's deluding himself if he thinks he can successful with it. One of the central metaphors of the film is wrapped up in a feline companion whose fate tends to mirror his career and mood - that's some of the best cat acting I've ever seen, by the way, and probably the hardest thing about making this movie if I know my cats - but it isn't the only one, far from it. Inside Llewyn Davis could be analyzed up and down for a long time and still yield interesting stuff. But to some audiences, it'll a boring, pointless non-story about a jerk they can't connect with. Definitely one to watch and rewatch, because it's a layered onion. And not everyone can stomach onions. (My group of cinephiles do, and I must credit many of these thoughts to its members; this really was a discussion piece we were still talking about days later.)

8 years 10 months ago

4lcatraz

Has comedy, drama, music and a cat. I say it's pretty good.

10 years 1 month ago

V012

The Coen Brothers enter new genres and themes pretending to be masters of it and in the process master the genre. They are unpredictable in their film making choices and exceptional writers. They mature more and more with every film and this one portraying a cycle of artistic failure is bare and well crafted with a classic layer of signature Coen Brothers dark comedy. A culturally significant film that should be much more regarded in the future. spoiler

10 years 3 months ago