MOVIE OF THE WEEK #1 (12/18-20/13): INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS
WATCH THE TRAILER HERE:
KEY CAST MEMBERS: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman, Garret Hedlund, Max Casella, Adam Driver, Robert Bartlett, Ethan Phillips and Jerry Grayson
WRITER(S): Joel & Ethan Coen
DIRECTOR(S): Joel & Ethan Coen
WEB SITE: http://www.insidellewyndavis.com/splash
60 SECOND PLOT SYNOPSIS (OR AS CLOSE TO IT AS ONE CAN TRY TO MAKE): The latest dramatic piece from the team of Joel and Ethan Coen, Inside Llewyn Davis stars Oscar Isaac in the titular role as a folk musician living in early 1960s New York. Attempting to establish himself as a solo artist following the death of his former partner, Davis has a myriad of problems facing him: (1) He has to crash on any couch possible since he doesn't have his own place, (2) his fledgling solo album is well, fledgling ... And (3) he's impregnated Jean (Carey Mulligan), a fellow singer who just so happens to be the spouse of his good friend Jim (Justin Timberlake).
Those three factors force Davis to take a long, hard look at himself in his quest to make it ... Even if it makes Davis confront some very hard truths about both himself and his music.
Those three factors force Davis to take a long, hard look at himself in his quest to make it ... Even if it makes Davis confront some very hard truths about both himself and his music.
WHO WILL LIKE THIS FILM THE MOST?: Long-standing Coen Bros. fans, Oscar Isaac fans, people who love to see John Goodman play wacky characters.
WHO WON'T LIKE THIS FILM?: Just about everyone else.
BOTTOM LINE – IS IT GOOD, GREAT, BAD OR DOWNRIGHT AWFUL? Awfully well done, awfully well acted ... And awfully boring unfortunately.
WHAT'S GOOD (OR BAD) ABOUT IT?: As I write this, Inside Llewyn Davis sits nominated for three Golden Globe awards, including Best Picture. Several other respected critics have found the film to be the Coen Brothers working at their finest, with Oscar Isaac getting much kudos for his work.
Well, allow me to be the voice of dissent: Inside Llewyn Davis is boring, convoluted and not entertaining ... unless you consider watching a movie about a man who continually makes every wrong choice possible a great way to spend two hours.
What specifically are the problems with the film? OK, let's go through the list:
• This is not a drama that talks about the beginning of the folk movement in modern music; if you come thinking to the film that that will be the case, you will be even more disappointed than you already would be watching the movie.
• As an actor, Isaac does a great job at bringing you inside Davis' world. Problem is, the character's world becomes predictable and stale quickly due to his inability to make anything close to a right decision. It's akin to watching an episode of Intervention that extends the first 20 to a 2 hour movie. You KNOW every bad decision the character is going to make as he's doing it and what he should do, but he never does. In turn, you lose patience with the one note character and his inability to do recognize his own shortcomings. Even when the movie attempts to add some nuance to him, it does so in such a haphazard fashion you either become instantly irritated or indifferent to it.
• John Goodman's turn as Roland Turner, a jazz musician full of bombast (and ... other things) only does a few things, and none of them well: (1) It gets the Coen Bros.' favorite actor back into one of their movies (2) It adds a weird element to the film that goes nowhere and (3) it just doesn't make any sense. Throw in a waste of Garrett Hedlund as Roland's driver and the entire time the two are on screen with Davis turns into a hot mess. And the less said about the poor cat involved, the better ...
• Carey Mulligan's character seems oblivious to her own problems in relation to Davis, so when her character reaches her arc, it makes not a lick of sense.
• Many of the secondary characters are either overused and undeveloped or just underdeveloped (see Goodman, Garrett Hedlund). Save for Adam Driver as the good-natured session musician Al Cody, the film lacks any real interesting character who is interesting because of who they are, NOT because the film's plot dictates they are important.
• Furthermore, many aspects of the film that could have been interesting (no spoilers here) are skipped over (both purposefully and unintentionally) and weaken if not cripple the film at potential key aspects. And once you get to know this about Davis, you don't need to go "inside" Llewyn Davis – you already are. This is the damning factor that completely ruins the film, because without any redeeming qualities, without any unpredictable moments and frankly, without any thing interesting to Davis, the movie ceases to give you any incentive to care about the character or it as a whole.
A man's self-destructive behavior can be heartbreaking, insightful, redeeming and ... Unfortunately, in the case of Inside Llewyn Davis, it's loathsome, it's annoying, it's frustrating and caught up in its own self-indulgent "art" to the point that you'll either love it or hate it to the point of absolute detest.
That myriad of problems is why anyone, save for the most die hard Coen Bros. fan, will find Inside Llewyn Davis best left outside of their local cineplex.
Well, allow me to be the voice of dissent: Inside Llewyn Davis is boring, convoluted and not entertaining ... unless you consider watching a movie about a man who continually makes every wrong choice possible a great way to spend two hours.
What specifically are the problems with the film? OK, let's go through the list:
• This is not a drama that talks about the beginning of the folk movement in modern music; if you come thinking to the film that that will be the case, you will be even more disappointed than you already would be watching the movie.
• As an actor, Isaac does a great job at bringing you inside Davis' world. Problem is, the character's world becomes predictable and stale quickly due to his inability to make anything close to a right decision. It's akin to watching an episode of Intervention that extends the first 20 to a 2 hour movie. You KNOW every bad decision the character is going to make as he's doing it and what he should do, but he never does. In turn, you lose patience with the one note character and his inability to do recognize his own shortcomings. Even when the movie attempts to add some nuance to him, it does so in such a haphazard fashion you either become instantly irritated or indifferent to it.
• John Goodman's turn as Roland Turner, a jazz musician full of bombast (and ... other things) only does a few things, and none of them well: (1) It gets the Coen Bros.' favorite actor back into one of their movies (2) It adds a weird element to the film that goes nowhere and (3) it just doesn't make any sense. Throw in a waste of Garrett Hedlund as Roland's driver and the entire time the two are on screen with Davis turns into a hot mess. And the less said about the poor cat involved, the better ...
• Carey Mulligan's character seems oblivious to her own problems in relation to Davis, so when her character reaches her arc, it makes not a lick of sense.
• Many of the secondary characters are either overused and undeveloped or just underdeveloped (see Goodman, Garrett Hedlund). Save for Adam Driver as the good-natured session musician Al Cody, the film lacks any real interesting character who is interesting because of who they are, NOT because the film's plot dictates they are important.
• Furthermore, many aspects of the film that could have been interesting (no spoilers here) are skipped over (both purposefully and unintentionally) and weaken if not cripple the film at potential key aspects. And once you get to know this about Davis, you don't need to go "inside" Llewyn Davis – you already are. This is the damning factor that completely ruins the film, because without any redeeming qualities, without any unpredictable moments and frankly, without any thing interesting to Davis, the movie ceases to give you any incentive to care about the character or it as a whole.
A man's self-destructive behavior can be heartbreaking, insightful, redeeming and ... Unfortunately, in the case of Inside Llewyn Davis, it's loathsome, it's annoying, it's frustrating and caught up in its own self-indulgent "art" to the point that you'll either love it or hate it to the point of absolute detest.
That myriad of problems is why anyone, save for the most die hard Coen Bros. fan, will find Inside Llewyn Davis best left outside of their local cineplex.
OVERALL RATING (OUT OF FOUR POSSIBLE BUCKETS OF POPCORN):
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