Written and directed by Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, in Greenwich Village in the early 1960s, gifted but volatile folk musician Llewyn Davis struggles with money, relationships, and his uncertain future. Starring: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake, Ethan Phillips, Robin Bartlett, Max Casella, Adam Driver, John Goodman, Garrett Hedlund, Stark Sands, and Jerry Grayson.
While it may not be for everyone, there is absolutely a place for depressive cinema, films which create a journey of pure struggle because typically there is more to be found beneath that miserable exterior. That’s exactly the case with Inside Llewyn Davis, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen create a story which from the outside is an hour and forty-five minutes of a grumpy, somewhat unhoused gentleman, with a talent for folk music, who only seems to irritate those around him. However, as the film moves, they layer in the motivations behind that cantankerous exterior; the grief, the disappointment, the disillusionment, the lack of emotional connection, a fair amount of pretention and a lot of self-punishment.
It’s gloomy in all the right ways, and part of why the Coen brothers are able to make that work is because they litter in such a fantastic, eccentric mix of supporting characters. The most obvious of course being Carey Mulligan’s resentful Jean, who has had enough of Llewyn’s (Oscar Isaac) nonsense. She’s so delightfully abrasive towards Llewyn, frankly reminding him of all of his flaws. It’s undoubtedly one of the joys of Inside Llewyn Davis to watch her rally against him, while he tries to, very unsuccessfully, argue for himself.
You’ve then got the great John Goodman who gives an utterly memorable appearance, in every Coen picture he appears in and Inside Llewyn Davis is no exception. He creates a strange, imposing yet physically weak character who is never truly explained, he injects an interesting tension and creates another character to challenge Llewyn. While Justin Timberlake, Adam Driver and Stark Sands add in some classically wholesome, folk notes. It’s a great cast who all do a wonderful job of recreating the era and all have so much personality to bring to the table.
Then there’s the visual, the cinematography from Bruno Delbonnel holds this coldness, but one that effectively captures those unforgiving winters, rather than one which infects the tone. It doesn’t create distance, that pale palette is perfectly fitting to the era and folk scene. It also moves really well, capturing the lack of direction of Llewyn and the instability of his life, while never feeling like it isn’t moving forward.
Inside Llewyn Davis is an adventure in struggle, capturing emotional pain and creative dissatisfaction by heading down a bumpy road with plenty of unusual strangers to meet along the way. There’s an excellent cast and witnessing the animosity between Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan’s characters is a lot of fun, it’s just a shame they don’t share the screen even more.
It showcases one of the Coen brothers’ biggest talents which is that eye for detail, not just in the visual but adding small elements throughout the film, like writing on a bathroom wall. There are some interesting emotional layers to be found, it’s an unassuming exploration of grief and the complex emotions left behind after someone takes their own life, even if from the outside it simply looks like a dramedy about a grumpy musician.
