With a bookend technique that perfectly crafts the film like a brushstroke, we meet and get to know Llewyn Davis (the name is Welch, though his mom is Italian) over the course of a few days. In typical Coen fashion, he's down on his luck, hopping from couch to couch, playing gigs but getting nothing for it. The film is a slow, churning reflection on the times, and I wouldn't have been surprised to see people walking out of the screening instead of listening to song after song in their entireties. What we lack in plot is made up for in characters and imagery.
Davis is trying to start a solo gig, after the recent suicide of his musical partner. The problem is that he can't get anyone to listen. On top of it, his friend's cat escaped their apartment and he is locked out. What else can a man do but carry around an orange cat through the cold of a New York winter?
Oscar Isaac is the man. You may recognize him from "Drive?" Here, he shines. The film depends wholly on a man we can sympathize with and yet demonstrate a broad range of talent. This is a star-making performance, and I hope to see more from him soon. The cast is littered with great roles (Carey Mulligan playing his ex who has nothing but profanities for him, John Goodman as a mysterious man who uses two walking canes, drugs, and a chauffeur). Their scenes are perfect and yet too short. We could make an entire film out of Goodman's character, and yet we see him for mere minutes!
The real star is the music, but what else is new? The soundtrack is manipulative to the point of being sentimental, but I didn't mind in the least. It sounds of sadness that seems to mirror the sense of foreboding as the innocence of the times is almost over.
As per the Coen's emphasis on craftsmanship, the film is gorgeous, and the best moments are the short scenes of little to no dialogue, beautifully shot and conceived. A car on a snowy highway, the glance of a cat, a puddle of slush in the snow.... Breaking from long-time collaborator Roger Deakins, the film is still a marvel of photography with Bruno Delbonnel (Amelie) as the helm.
The film moves mountains in it's slow, dark journey, and what a pleasure it was to watch. As far as Coen brothers go, their streak of unique filmmaking and first-rate writing continues. "Inside Llewyn Davis" is simply fantastic.
(Awards potential: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Isaac), Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Editing, Best Soundtrack, Best Sound Mixing)
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