Review of Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) by Mont212 — 05 Feb 2014

Inside Llewyn Davis is heartfelt, memorable and enlightening; not just because it uncovers the folk scene of the 1960's that we rarely see, but because it slowly unravels the truth behind the music industry: it is not only bloody hard to make it the top, but staying there is near impossible.

Though some have accused it as leaving us with no satisfying conclusion (the end is rather sudden), they are forgetting that the Coen brother's surely never meant for it to have the cheerful climax that many films now copy.

Instead, they lead us through the struggle, the pain and the anger that failure can incur on someone's life, with all aspects covered well - if not excellently - by Oscar Isaac. This is not to say that we should feel sorry for Llewyn - the Coens have presented us with a deeply immoral man here.

Not only has he slept with his best friend (Carey Mulligan as Jean), but he seeks money to pay for the abortion from her current partner (Justin Timberlake as Jim, who we never really get the chance to learn about).

Despite this, the film remains very likeable; for the Coens have always had a knack at keeping their audiences engaged to iniquitous characters. Jean - the aforementioned best friend of Llewyn who is played dryly yet hilariously by Mulligan - is at times a blueprint of this behaviour.

Though she too made the choice to cheat on her partner, she forever blames Davis for the mistake she surely made too. However, she never fails to support him when he is desperate, and through this we get the impression that even Llewyn realises he needs her (not just music) to survive.

Therefore, Inside Llewyn Davis is far from unsatisfying. Not only does it appreciate time for loneliness, failure, friendship and the power of music, it unveils a far more realistic and worthwhile tale of achieving success than perhaps many others have before it.