Review of Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) by Jmillajhawk — 07 Mar 2014

I was very disappointed with this movie. It seemed like an easy out at every turn, the message I got basically being: life is sad and perhaps meaningless, it is hard to be an artist, we are doomed to repeat our mistakes. I think the Coen brothers became enamored of the early 60s Greenwich Village bohemian atmosphere, but they then failed to fashion that feeling into a satisfying feature length film and instead hung a fairly brittle premise. Sure, the movie expertly evokes a time and place, and some of the music is beautiful, but there's very little else in this. Characters flit in and out while the protagonist sits at the mercies of fate, seemingly bundling in to one catastrophe after another. He exhibits little to no capacity for change, and fails to be courageous or admirable at pretty much every turn.

I will admit that the dinner party scene that climaxes with the old lady screaming about the cat scrotum is still making me laugh. That part alone probably makes this a worthwhile watch, and reminds me how great the Coen brothers can be. Otherwise, though, this was a flimsy downer with little to redeem it.