The Adventures Of A Hapless Folk Singer And His Scene Stealing, Marmalade Coloured Cat. Scott Gentry Reviews “Inside Llewyn Davis”.

"Inside Llewyn Davis" (15)
Directed by: Joel and Ethan Coen.
Starring: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake and John Goodman.
Running time: 105 minutes.
Rated: 15 for containing strong language, sex references and implied hard drug use.
Out now in UK cinemas.

The Coen Brother's latest film follows six days in the life of a struggling folk singer Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac), who (in the year 1961) lives in New York's Greenwich Village, supposedly the home of Folk music. Despite his worthy intentions, Llewyn now lives his life on the basis of charity from his friends and family. Having eventually reached the point of extreme desperation, Llewyn ultimately decides to try his absolute hardest, to leave his mark on folk music. 

Having not completed a screenplay or feature-length film for nearly three years, the Coens finally settled on creating a fictional film, inspired by certain events in Greenwich Village New York, in 1961. When readying the production, a memoir published after the death of Van Ronk (a famous folk singer) was used to establish the vision of the colour to be used in the film and certain scenes.

The 'bring your cat to work day' was more stressful than he anticipated...

The irony of Llewyn’s character is that even though he’s loosely based on Van Ronk and Jack Elliot, Llewyn is the complete opposite, mostly reflecting a simpleton. However, this is why we begin to root for Llewyn, as he is a fairly relatable person who is in desperate need of help. The film’s shoot was troubled, as a result of an early New York spring, which interfered with the winter setting, taken from the film’s script.

The Coen brothers (Joel and Ethan) are in many ways the undisputed masters of cinematic comedy. Whether it's a film about gangsters ("Miller's Crossing") or a western ("True Grit"), these two brothers consistently provide an intellectual style of witticisms to all of their films; which has flooded into another star-studded achievement, "Inside Llewyn Davis"; which is unequivocally their finest piece of cinema since “No Country for Old Men”. 

A still of Oscar Isaac, Justin Timberlake and Adam Driver. 

Packed with vigorous supporting roles, the Coens once again create ingenious characters such as Carey Mulligan’s Jean, who has a first-rate line (“Everything you touch turns to ***t! Like King Midas’s idiot brother!”), which is screamed at Llewyn in a particularly amusing fashion. Justin Timberlake’s character of Jim is also charming, included in an especially hilarious scene, regarding a musical number sung by himself, Issac’s and a fairly odd man named Al Cody (Adam Driver), who continues to say “shout” every minute; much to the shock of Llewyn and Jim. 

Coen's regular John Goodman is also well cast, into a role which suits his character’s attitude quite well, along with some distinctly funny, one-liners. Not only was the supporting cast well-chosen, but the scene-stealing marmalade coloured cat, must be mentioned as contributing to one of the Coen brother’s funniest jokes of their career, involving the word ‘scrotum’. 

A still of Stark Sands, Carey Mulligan and Justin Timberlake.

The performances are remarkable, with Isaac's finally receiving a lead role worthy of his acting talents, which he commands expertly well. Mulligan’s performance is yet again near-perfect, much like her character in “Drive”, but more developed, plus some added anger problems. 

The film’s music is exceptionally riveting, containing songs written previously by famous folk singers such as Van Ronk and performed live by a selection of the cast. Issacs and Mulligan both have resilient voices, which are used to effect in many of their songs including the hilarious “Please Mr Kennedy” and “Five Hundred Miles”. 

Verdict

Easily the Coen’s best work in years, presenting an unrivalled reflection of a folk singer, who in spite of the hatred surrounding him, tries to prevail in a cruel and uncaring world. 

8 Stars out of 10.

Written by Scott Gentry.

Film Rating Key

1-2 stars out of ten = Awful.
3-4 stars out of ten = Average.
5-6 stars out of ten = Good.
7-8 stars out of ten = Excellent.
9-10 stars out of ten = Amazing.