Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Inside Llewyn Davis

Movie Name: Inside Llewyn Davis
Year of Release: 2013
Director: Joel and Ethan Coen
Stars: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Ethan Phillips, John Goodman, Justin Timberlake, Adam Driver, Robin Bartlett, Max Casella, Stark Sands, F. Murray Abraham, Garrett Hedlund, Alex Karpovsky
Genre: Drama
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 8

Synopsis:
After the successful remake of "True Grit", the Coen brothers return with one of their original screenplays. "Inside Llewyn Davis" follows the story of a folk singer, aptly named Llewyn Davis, who upon the demise of his folk duo, decides to embark on a solo career. His career isn't going well and Llewyn resorts to small gigs as a session musician to get some money, while crashing at his friends couches in order to have a place to sleep. Most of his personal relationships are deeply strained, amongst them with his sister and also with a friend whom he slept with and who is now possibly pregnant with his child. Llewyn is desperately trying to make his career gain momentum, but the obstacles and difficulties just seem to constantly pop up out of nowhere.
The Coen brothers continue to chronicle and expand on their universe, filled with offbeat characters who struggle to achieve their goals, while the entire universe seems to be throwing obstacles their way (which was the case for example of the characters played by Nicolas Cage in "Raising Arizona" or Tim Robbins in "The Hudsucker Proxy"). "Inside Llewyn Davis" follows the story of a young folk artist, fantastically well played by the talented Oscar Isaac, who though desperately trying to catch his big opportunity, is always a shy moment away of living in the gutter. The film perfectly depicts his attempts at getting his life on track, though all these attempts go nowhere. Much like "A Serious Man", the events that surround Llewyn Davis, always seem to topple his ambitions and goals. The film has a good balance of humor and drama, and the music is definitely in tone with the period and the artists of the era. There's a melancholic tone that comes from the film, but it's a film that rewards the viewer upon it's first initial impact. Carey Mulligan and John Goodman create interesting supporting characters and the cinematography from Bruno Delbonnel is stunning. A film worth watching.

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