Inside Llewyn Davis

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It's like a gust of wind that never stops. I was altered, disturbed and amused by the clarity of this poets. From Joel and Ethan to Bruno Delbonnel, Oscar Isaac, to T Bone Burnett and everyone who enters, even for an instant, this sublime, unique, startling P.O.V. Aware but never condescending to the audience. No explanation as to why this story deserved to be told. The answers are private, deeply personal, enlightening and, at times, chillingly transparent. The face of Oscar Isaac, my God! For me one of the most enthralling discoveries of 2013. At times it reminded me of an updated character in an Italian Neo-realistic film, others one of those images from one of Martin Donovan's sessions. I sat through Inside Llewyn Davis twice in a row. I can't wait to repeat the experience soon again.

The problem with the Coen Brothers is that in every one of their movies, they're looking through a glass half empty and never half full. 'Inside Llewyn Davis' is no exception. Oh yes, you'll find the usual excellent cinematography, casting, acting, direction and neat recreation of bygone eras. But what you'll never find is sympathy for your protagonist. The Coen Brothers always pride themselves on standing above the fray and looking down on their anti-heroes. In essence, what they're saying is, 'we're good at exposing the underbelly of the dark side of Americana; applaud us.' The failed folk artist, Llewyn Davis, is prototypical of their one dimensional view of things. Are there really people like the fictional Davis (supposedly an amalgam of real life musicians including Dave Van Ronk, Phil Ochs and Ramblin' Jack Elliott)? People so clueless, so narcissistic, that they never listen to feedback from anyone else, so that they never change. It's a rare individual who is so misanthropic, like the Coens' Llewyn, that you will ever run into him, in real life. But even if there is such a character, does he really deserve to be immortalized in film? I hardly think so. The Coen brothers had no problem in admitting that 'Inside Llewyn Davis' has little plot. More important is the fact that the story is devoid of a concrete antagonist. The only antagonist is Llewyn's internal demon— which takes the form of myopia, cluelessness, and narcissism. The demon never emerges into Llewyn's consciousness, so that perhaps he can reflect upon where he is going wrong. Instead, we're asked to sit through a 104 minute chronicle of an unlikeable mediocrity, who pursues a wrong-headed quest for fame and fortune in the folk music world of the early 60s. Llewyn Davis is much more caricature than a real human being. The Coen brothers go out of their way to show just how much of a loser this guy is. Are there really people like this? Consider their catalogue of Llewyn's shortcomings: He originally was part of a Simon & Garfunkel precursor type group, Tom & Jerry, but his partner committed suicide; he has no money and sleeps on acquaintances' couches; he's forced to carry some friends' cat around with him after he locks himself out of their apartment; he impregnates a woman but doesn't have to pay for the abortion, after he learns from the abortion doctor, that a previous girlfriend, never went through with the procedure; he drives all the way to Chicago, only to learn that a music manager never received his latest record in the mail and doesn't think he has any commercial potential; he heckles a woman during a folk concert and is later beaten up badly by the woman's husband, outside in a dark alley. 'Inside Llewyn Davis' is the ultimate sad sack tale. And unfortunately, sad sacks never make for good drama. What the film does have is lots of atmosphere. There are some neat cinematic scenes, notably the one involving John Goodman as a sleazy, heroin-addicted jazz musician, who is a passenger along with Llewyn, on that trip to Chicago. I also liked the attempt to recreate NYC in 1961, particularly various streets in Greenwich Village. Rather than consulting all the positive reviews from 'professional' critics on Metacritic, you'll find some much more honest and insightful reviews in the review section of IMDb. There, at least, is a sense that Llewyn Davis is not a believable character and if by chance, such misanthropes truly exist in real life, their journeys are certainly not worth being looked at, given the lack of change or growth. If you like a straw man, Llewyn Davis is for you. The Coen brothers are experts at shooting straw men down--but such a maneuver should never bring praise and accolades; that's reserved only for the gullible!

There have been movies made about musicians, both real and imagined, from End of the Century through I'm Not There, taking in The Future is Unwritten and A Mighty Wind. We've had almost every conceivable approach, from straight-up documentary through imagined version of events as well as completely invented bands, singers, songs, and concerts. Yet, I don't think that anyone has ever managed to do what the Coen Brothers have produced with this tragic, comedic, touching piece. Which is to essentially transport you into the grooves of an LP, Inside Llewyn Davies, and bring you a beautifully realised portrayal of the eponymous hero as he trudges his weary way through the greys and greens of Greenwich Village in a cold New York. And it is so reminiscent of the experience of listening to your favourite vinyl album from track one, side one to the final track of side two, whilst curling up on the couch with a cat in your lap, listening to a selection of melodic, melancholic, traditional, and new folk music. The music binds this movie together and Oscar Issac inhabits the title role in a world-weary way that aches with ennui and longs for something never expressed. We follow his tramping travails through a range of vignettes that build subtly towards creating a quite compelling picture of the man behind the music. He sometimes does what we expect and at other junctures, veers off in a mad new direction. There is little explanation for any of the decisions that he does, or doesn't, take. He's searching without any clear idea of the quest. Along the way, we meet a wonderfully diverse bunch of supporting characters, from the biting Jean, acerbic tongue and acid looks, through the snoring bully Roland Turner and his valet Johnny Five, as well as Mitch and Lilian, the Upper West posh couple, but especially Ulysses, our hero's apparent companion over the week (or was s/he?). They all offer opportunities to understand Davies' psyche slightly more, albeit admitting that not even he appears to be fully cognisant himself. It's a lovely looking film, beautifully shot and much more enjoyable that I would have believed possible from watching the trailer previously. T Bone Burnett has done a sterling job on the soundtrack, it's so affecting and the way that the songs are all allowed to play out saw the audience in the cinema in which I saw this mainly remaining seated through the end credits as well. Which brings me back to the vinyl album sensation. You don't pick up the needle when your favorite record is playing the final track, because you want to get on with something else instead. No. You let it run right to the end of the groove and then your heart fills with an equal mixture of pleasure and joy, sorrow and sighs, as the last bars fade to quiet and all that's gone before becomes a memory that's so strong and so addictive that you want to turn it over and put the needle back into the groove all over again. This movie is precisely like that sensation and I loved it, from first frame to last. A quiet understated tragi-comedy, dark in places, and shadowy in others, but with a humanity and a compassion that you cannot avert our gaze from. Hell, it's even got a coda of a scene to be dealing with, which at the end takes your mind back to the start of the production and forces one to reexamine what has just passed before your eyes. Recommended.

I am not one of those people to be as dramatic to say "I want two hours of my life back " , but am thankful for the part of my brain that suppresses awful awful memories. I am a huge Coen brothers fan , but this movie has much appeal as a Rolf Harris benefit concert. Nothing happens in the film , and not in a Seinfeld sort of humorous/witty way , but more in a waiting at a doctors room for an appointment sort of way. More disappointing was the clichéd story line. Without giving anything away , Llewyn loses a cat, finds it the next day and then returns it to the owner , and I am sure you can guess what happens next. The same thing happens when he records a single and signs away any royalty benefits.There is no character development that occurs in other Coen films. I have no idea what they were thinking , but they were not thinking of making a good film when they may this - In short , please avoid !