Inside Llewyn Davis (***1/2)

The Greenwich Village folk music in the early 1960s scene serves as the backdrop for this Coen Brothers movie. In some ways, it functions as a citified quasi-sequel to O Brother Where Art Thou, the musical travelgogue that was inspired by Homer’s Odyssey. We follow Llewyn Davis on his own odyssey (a certain character name, revealed late in the movie, seems also to allude to Homer). As played by Oscar Isaac, Davis is a none-too-successful singer-songwriter whose gentle songs and soulful eyes are at odds with a somewhat prickly personality. Asked to play something at a dinner party held by university professor and his wife (they like having a bohemian friend), he protests, “I’m not a fucking trained monkey.”

 

Davis can’t help saying what he thinks, even when he can’t afford to. Some people will not want to follow him around for two hours, either, but it’s such idiosyncrasies that make him interesting. Alongside that, the film provides a look into the folk subculture just before folks like Bob Dylan and Peter, Paul, and Mary became breakout stars. Davis himself would have fit in with Dylan, although he is less acerbic and is said to be based in part on Dave van Ronk, a semi-well known figure called the Mayor of MacDougal Street. Representing the sweeter side of that sound (something like Peter, Paul, and Mary) are a duo called Jean and Jim, played by Carey Mulligan and Justin Timberlake. Jean also may have been impregnated by Davis. And one of the funniest segments is provided when Davis has a recording session recording a novelty song called “Please Mr. Kennedy.”

This movie didn’t immediately impress me as much as some other Coen Brothers films. It doesn’t have the offbeat humor of Fargo or The Big Lebowski, save for a couple of scenes in which John Goodman plays Davis’s loud-mouthed road-trip companion. It doesn’t have the stark suspense of True Grit or No Country for Old Men. But, a couple of months after seeing this, the character sticks with me. As for the music, most it may be on the austere side for most modern audiences. But it’s well-performed and well chosen by T-Bone Burnett (who served a similar function on O Brother). Isaac, who has sung in his own band, has an excellent voice and gives a breakout performance.

 

IMDb link

viewed 11/6/13 7:00 pm at Ritz 5 [PFS screening], posted 12/20/13; review added 1/8/14