Inside Llewyn Davis Movie Review

Inside Llewyn Davis is about a week in the life of a musician in 1961 New York City. This film was directed by Ethan and Joel Coen and it stars Oscar Isaac, Carrie Mulligan and John Goodman. It was a solid film that was enjoyable to watch. Llewyn Davis wasn’t a real person but his character was based on the folk singer Dave Von Ronk.

Llewyn is introduced to us as a struggling folk singer in Greenwhich Village trying to make ends meet. His partner Mike recently committed suicide and his album Inside Llewyn Davis isn’t really selling. He doesn’t have a place of his own and hops around from one friend’s place to another for the night.

This movie has a gloomy feel to it, almost greyish which I think really helps set the mood and maybe relate to his circumstances a bit easier. He stops by his friends Jim (Justin Timberlake) and Jean’s house for a few nights when Jean (Mulligan) secretly tells him that she’s pregnant and not sure if it’s his or Jim’s so she wants him to pay for the abortion, as if things couldn’t get any worse for him. Carrie Mulligan was actually really funny in this movie. Half of her lines are just her harshly insulting Llewyn and it’s pretty damn funny! But underneath it all they have a very real bond between them.

Now the second half of the film focuses on Llewyn getting to Chicago to meet Bud Grossman a producer who supposedly received his album. He hitches a ride with two musicians played by John Goodman and Garrret Hedlund.  Goodman plays an older, annoying asshole who constantly rips on Llewyn during the long drive to Chicago. He pretty much can’t catch a break from anyone. But their dialogue is entertaining and we get some insight on both characters in an interesting way.

The music in the film was mostly recorded live and I enjoyed it even though I’m not really a folk music fan. Oscar Isaac takes us on a sometimes depressing, often comical journey through the life of Llewyn Davis. I really liked Inside Llewyn Davis and would give it a 8 out of 10, only because some parts were bit dull. But the acting was great and it was a solid story.