Day 6 Inside
Llewyn Davis [2013]
Writer(s)
Joel Cohen &
Ethan Coen
Director
Joel Cohen &
Ethan Coen
Cinematography Bruno Delbonnel
Music
composition T Bone Burnett
Leads Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman.
Production StudioCanal, Scott Rudin
Productions, Mike Zoss Productions
IMDb 7.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes 93%
Love
the Coen brothers. Definitely up there with my favourite (incredibly
stereotypical) writers/directors such as PTA, Wes Anderson, Tarantino and
Scorsese. O Brother Where Art Thou? is a particular favourite of mine.
This film is often highly rated by the critics so I was looking forward to it.
Got to say I didn’t love it. Acting was very good, as was the way the film
ticked along. I just thought it was quite boring and, for a film all about
music, the music let me down a bit. I am critical of music (see Day 2) as I dream
of being a music supervisor. The film is about singer Llewyn (Oscar Isaac) as
he struggles with the changing tastes in folk music at the famous Gaslight bar.
He also is struggling with the loss of his old musical partner and his own
personality. Jumping from sofa to sofa he is a stubborn, pessimistic man with
few real friends. Isaac plays the role very well but I just found myself
falling asleep at times. I suppose the Coen bros do well in portraying the
hopelessness of Llewyn’s search for work, recognition and money. His unsuccessful
journey to and from Chicago to play at one bar perfectly highlighted this.
Perhaps I am being harsh, perhaps I wasn’t in the right frame of mind, but I
wasn’t enthralled by it.
Acting 3 / 4
Writing 3 / 4
Cinematography 3 / 4
Music 1.5 / 4
HWF rating 2.5 / 4