[Movie Review] Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
Plot Summary: A week in the life of a young singer as he navigates the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961.
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Writers: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Runtime: 105 min
Main Cast:
- Oscar Isaac as Llewyn Davis
- Carey Mulligan as Jean
- Justin Timberlake as Jim
- Ethan Phillips as Mitch Gorfein
- Max Casella as Pappi Corsicato
- Adam Driver as Al Cody
- Stark Sands as Troy Nelson
- John Goodman as Roland Turner
Review: by Anthony and Lee
A new movie from the legendary Coen brothers, covering the folk music scene in 1960's New York, sounded like a no brainer to us. With such strong works as O Brother, Where Art Thou?, No Country for Old Men, and True Grit on their resumes, we thought it surely had to be good.
What We Liked:
The story was interesting, telling the compelling story of Llewyn Davis as he struggled to make it in the music industry, despite frequent set backs, let downs, and rejections.
The movie moved seamlessly between drama and comedy from scene to scene. We loved the running jokes involving the cat, and the scene in which they recorded “Please, Mr. Kennedy” was hilarious. We particularly liked Adam Driver as Al Cody’s performance in that scene.
The acting was pretty solid as a whole, but Oscar Isaac was amazing in his role, which was surprisingly complex. We enjoyed Isaac’s convincing performance as he showed the different sides of Llewyn Davis, the lovable jerk.
We completely fell in love with the setting of the movie, 1960’s Greenwich Village New York. The wardrobe and soundtrack were amazing; every song played in the movie was totally mesmerizing, and the fact that Oscar Isaacs sang all his numbers was surprising and delightful. We have been listening to the OST in the car, and have decided that “Five Hundred Miles” and “Please Mr. Kennedy” are our standout favorites; but, there aren’t any tracks that we would skip over at all.
What We Didn’t Like:
The plot, while told well, moved along slowly and didn’t feel like it had an ending. It felt like Llewyn Davis was in the same situation as he was at the beginning of the film, without any personal or professional growth.
Summary
The soundtrack for Inside Llewyn Davis was fantastic and reason enough to see the film. It really is the major selling point; but, the acting was decent, and the plot held together enough to keep us interested.
You can purchase Inside Llewyn Davis on Blu Ray from Amazon here:
Images Courtesy of IMDB
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