Cinematography:
Bruno DelbonnelCast:
Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman, Garrett Hedlund, Adam Driver, F. Murray Abraham, Max Casella, Ethan Phillips, Robin Bartlett (more)VOD (2)
Plots(1)
Joel and Ethan Coen's award-winning drama follows a week in the life of a struggling young singer-songwriter as he tries to make it big in New York's folk scene of the early 1960s. In the midst of a relentless New York winter, with no job, no money and nowhere to stay, down-on-his-luck musician Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) spends his days flicking through his address book trying to find a bed, or a floor, for the night. If things weren't bad enough, his musical partner has ended it all by jumping off of a bridge, and his lover Jean (Carey Mulligan), who just happens to be the wife of his best friend Jim (Justin Timberlake), has told him that she's pregnant and wants an abortion. In a last ditch bid to shed his hand-to-mouth existence, Davis, with his ever-present pet cat in tow, sets out on a road trip to Chicago in the hope of resurrecting his music career by impressing local promoter Bud Grossman (F. Murray Abraham). (StudioCanal UK)
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Reviews (10)
Llewyn and I missed each other - not completely, but we just walked along the same sidewalk, and he talked and sang and I understood him, in every ironic gloss of his miserable self-centered life. Finally, he stopped, disappeared into a side alley, and then cried out that he didn't give a damn, that it suited him and he'd stay stuck there while I went on.
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The saddest film by the Coen brothers with their unrivaled, least sympathetic protagonist. It sounds like a bittersweet folk hit about a guy who was out of it his entire life. You know exactly where the verse, the chorus and the specific rhyme belong. And that's the power of a simple song that crept under my skin like frost and the purring of a cat. Nothing profound, just a beautiful experience that needs no explanation / defense. [85%]
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The Coen brothers in chill-out mode. This not very ambitious but pleasantly relaxing underground flick has no plot, but its atmosphere is excellent in places – especially during the brilliantly edited (including great work with sounds) car journey to Chicago, dominated by the film’s best character (played by John Goodman). As a whole, however, the film is unsatisfactory, it does not give the audience what it is waiting for. Factotum, also a story about an underdog/loser, was formally more conventional, but with more entertaining content.
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A movie that, in my eyes, makes up for the fact that it talks about unpleasant life situations in an all-too-pleasant way. The steady pace of the episodic narrative is this time not disrupted (in a positive sense) by any exceptional supporting character or any charming filmmaking idea by which the Coens dissect the superficiality and get down to their typical atmospheric poeticism. Isaac is fine and the music is nice, though it will be appreciated mostly by folk enthusiasts older than 80 or so :) 70%
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Even though the Coen brothers maintain their poetic style and this film has absolutely great music, it's not something I would consider exceptional. The Coens are riding their absurd drama about a singer, we follow his fate, his "success" over one week, but to make the impression stronger, like him, we also do not find a resolution. Unfortunately, this isn't a film that captivated me, no matter how well it might be filmed.
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