“It’s just music”
Before I start reviewing Inside Llewyn Davis, I must say I really appreciate 1/4 of the GIRLS cast appearing throughout—making us all very spoiled and forever wanting Adam Driver in pretty much every single movie ever now. And the fact that Justin Timberlake and Carey Mulligan also star in the Coen brothers’ latest makes the movie very enjoyable right off the bat.
But it’s the comical luck of the main character and his day-to-day misadventures (SPOILER: there’s an orange cat involved in over half the movie that causes many a troubles) that get you hooked onto this funny and heartbreaking story of a guy (who’s kind of a huge dick) who’s just tryin’ to make it in the folk scene.
We begin in New York City where Llewyn (Oscar Isaac) is living couch-to-couch playing local gigs while secretly hooking up with the fellow singer/musician friend Jean (Mulligan) who he accidentally knocks up because according to her, “everything he touches turns to shit.”
Not all is bad though, when given the chance to hop along on a possible breakthrough gig in Chicago that would totally blow up Llewyn Davis’ first solo album, he of course encounters the weirdest of characters (John Goodman!) who share the lifelong dream of touring on the road.
It’s no surprise as the movie goes that there isn’t really a happy ending for Llewyn (typical Coen bros!), but rather an ending that leaves us left in the sad shoes of another guy who just didn’t have what it takes to make it. But if you’ve ever toured on the road, or even just love music and the previous works of the Coen brothers, then Inside Llewyn Davis will be nothing but delightful.
(photos via Live for Film)
