Film Screening 12th March, 2014

Poster for Inside Llewyn Davis

Inside Llewyn Davis 

7:30 PM, 12th March, 2014

  • M
  • 105 mins
  • 2013
  • Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
  • Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
  • Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman

Inside Llewyn Davis tells the story of a week in a folk singer’s life, the titular Llewyn Davis. Llewyn (Isaac) is struggling to find his footing after his musical partner commits suicide and engages on a road trip to help find himself and save his career. He’s not in a happy place, quite burnt by the world and often overreacting to everyday misadventures, but luckily he has people around him who know the happier Llewyn. He relies on the goodwill of these friends as he struggles to see the forest for the trees and realise he should really stop to count his blessings rather than wallow in his doldrums.

There are some great backup characters here in the film, with the some nice cameos also, but Isaac’s performance is superb, and given his considerable screen time this is a credit to the performer. His musical performances are also fantastic, which brings me to the standout of this film — the soundtrack. Seemingly perfectly placed and with wonderful renditions these keep the narrative flowing and enhance the beautiful elements of the tale.

The Coen brothers have again delivered a well penned and softly nuanced piece with enough curve balls thrown in to deliver the off-kilter and sombre telling you would expect from them.

Steven Cain