LFF 2013: Inside Llewyn Davis ****
Although the latest Coen Brothers’ film, Inside Llewyn Davis, follows a tired-out character in the misfortunate Llewyn the musician, superbly played by actor-singer Oscar Isaac, the sumptuous-looking film is as fresh and Coen cool as any before. Mostly notably, it becomes one of the filmmakers’ most memorable with its musical renditions that pause the protagonist’s self-afflicted suffering for a moment. Through these, the film’s soul shines though as it fights for breath while its lead flounders at every turn. There is a remarkable melancholy at odds with a willful spirit that is all-consuming.
Llewyn Davis (Isaac) is an aspiring solo singer navigating the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961. However, luck is not on his side: he’s broke, has lost his singing partner, and seems set on screwing up every relationship and opportunity that comes his way. All he wants to do is be successful in the entertainment business or he will end up in the family shipping business.
Davis captivates us from the very start, so we can appreciate his talent, but subsequently does not channel that talent very well. He should be a loathsome character from his actions but there is a determination to stick by him to see if things transpire for the better. In the interim, he stubbornly stumbles from one disaster to another like one of life’s victims. As our damaged anti-hero we do empathise with his will to make the dream happen, as well as trying to keep current in a rapidly changing world.
Isaac plays socially obstructive Davis with such flagrant disregard but crippling neurosis that there are wonderful moments of irony and sarcasm. Just when we are losing the will with him, Davis recaptures our faith in his mission with a song, like being placed under a musical spell. Isaac has the impressive acting-singing talent to carry the film and Davis’s weary shoulders in the standout performance of his career to far.
The richly interwoven, subtle humour rises and filters away with every scenario. Like A Serious Man, this film is about life unraveling with signposts along the way. There is a running ‘joke’ about a cat in this that acts as such a prompt for the hapless lead, as much the star of the film as its human counterpart. One of the funniest and most brilliant moments is a road journey taken by Davis with a gregarious but equally pathetic character (John Goodman) and his silent ‘James Dean’ driver (Garrett Hedlund). Everything seems like a barrier to the real person, purely a disguise to get to where they need to go. Part of the Coen magic is figuring out the real character behind the mask.
Carey Mulligan and Justin Timberlake add the big-hitting credits, but the latter features far less than the former who is hilarious in an against-type role that sees the actress play an angry, shouty acquaintance. Mulligan swears like a trooper, taking out her character’s own frustrations on punchbag Davis while trying to scream some sense into him to wake up to reality.
Inside Llewyn Davis is another beautifully crafted Coen Brothers addition that leaves a mark long after watching as we are seduced by the score. The only frustration – apart from the lead character himself – is the narrative does not satisfactorily go anywhere or resolve things. Still, this could an element of Davis’s repetitive routine as he blindly tries to hang onto any fighting chance of creative success, something some of us can well relate to.
4/5 stars
By @FilmGazer
