Inside Llewyn Davis

Synopsis: It’s 1961 and the folk music boom is just starting in New York's Greenwich Village. Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) is a gifted singer but he can’t quite crack the right sound and with a prickly and cynical attitude he manages to alienate everyone around him.

The writing/directing/producing team of the Coen Brothers (they are essentially an incorporated entity, hence the capital ‘B ') are master craftsmen  whose work is characterized by its wit, its memorable characters, its love of the absurd and its stylish visuals. Whilst it is a relatively low-key entry in their oeuvre, Inside Llewyn Davis does nothing to break the spell of genius although its rather lugubrious tone will limit its appeal for some viewers.

Although on the surface quite different, Coen fans will probably make a connection between this film and their 2000 offering, O Brother, Where Art Thou? The ghost of Ulysses lies behind both and both have music as a strong thread not to mention Coen-favourite John Goodman who re-appears here, once again as a dubious self-styled Southern eccentric.

Oscar Isaac who is onscreen for most of the film was a brilliant find for not only is he a winning screen presence (somewhat reminiscent of a young Al Pacino) who embodies Llewyn’s existential resignation with charm but can sing and put over a song brilliantly (although clearly he is not playing the guitar that we hear).  Most of the other roles are fill-ins although Carey Mulligan impresses as a Judith Durham-type folkie and Goodman is an out-and-out hoot as a prolix jazz musician and drug-addict. There are also a couple of excellent feline (literally) performances.

Inside Llewyn Davis also exemplifies the Coen’s love of period style. Aided by Bruno Delbonnel (he was cinematographer on Amélie) the Coens indulge their penchant for hyper-real urban imagery, coming up with some superb '60s retro settings but also creating a resonant framework for Llewyn’s emotional and spiritual  odyssey.

If there is much that Coen fans will delight in, what sets Inside Llewyn Davis apart is its understatedness (the Goodman character aside). Nothing much happens but that’s the beauty of it. There is however one odd thing about the film and that is a sub-plot involving Llweyn's side trip to Akron, Ohio to visit a former squeeze. It starts promising much but is soon elided never to be mentioned again. 

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