By Joanna Orland
Inside Llewyn Davis is a skillfully made film, with an excellent soundtrack and brilliant performances. It is not the Coen Brothers’ best film to date, but it is still a great watch, and a prime example of an immersive cinematic experience in storytelling.
The story is structured as a biopic, but follows the fictional Llewyn Davis — a folk singer struggling through his life and his career, both of which have fallen flat since going solo, having moved on from his musical partner Mike. Llewyn is a very talented man, or at least the actor playing him is, as the songs he sings are joyously wonderful. First point of action from watching this film is to buy the soundtrack.
This is a character study rather than a linear narrative, as we follow Llewyn on his incredible journey. The film’s other prominent character, the cat eventually known as Ulysses, has a parallel adventure that we never fully learn the details of, but it’s a nice metaphor nonetheless. There are many subtleties in this film such as Ulysses, and it is a beauty to experience them. The scene-stealing and most memorable moment of the film is no doubtedly the small role played by Adam Driver, with his hilarious backing vocals from “Outer Space”.
In spite of this ingenious comedic scene, the film’s main flaw is its use of comedy. When played seriously as in this scene, the comedy works perfectly, and helps progress the narrative and Llewyn’s character development. Unfortunately for this film, at times it is played as silly comedy, including a particularly fickle performance by the usually brilliant John Goodman. If this change of tone was omitted, this could have been one of the Coen brothers’ finest films. Comedic comedy moments aside, this film is a joy. The songs and Llewyn’s story have been playing over and over in my head since yesterday’s screening.
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Inside Llewyn Davis
Directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Starring Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake, Adam Driver, and John Goodman
In UK Cinemas January 24th, 2014
