Lucybespro It is a performances centric movie

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Leoni Haney Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

FilmBuff1994 Inside Llewyn Davis is a fantastic movie with a very well developed plot and an outstanding cast. It's a very engrossing film as we follow a week in the life of a young singer who is struggling to make it big. By the end of the movie, I felt very connected to Llewyn Davis, having being given a very good feel of his day to day life and how he navigates through all his problems. My only real complaint about this film would actually be that it is far too short. Running at just over 100 minutes, I felt it had more to tell us, like the story could have been more developed, that this character had more potential. Once the credits came up, I was a little underwhelmed.The performances is what could make or break a film like this, thankfully each part is perfectly casted, with everyone managing to find a lovely balance of humour and drama. Oscar Isaac shines as Llewyn Davis, every subtle choice he makes for the character adds so much depth and he is truly connected from start to finish, he is also joined by a stellar supporting cast that includes Carey Mulligan, John Goodman and Garrett Hedlund. It's a very sweet Coen Brothers film with some beautiful music and relatable characters. An engaging plot and top notch cast, Inside Llewyn Davis is worth the watch for anyone looking for a good drama. Follows a week in the life of folk singer Llewyn Davis as he navigates from day to day. Best Performance: Oscar Isaac

disinterested_spectator The Coen brothers have made a movie about a self-important, obnoxious bum who sponges off people because he believes he was meant for better things than holding down a job. But such a movie, without any frills, would immediately be dismissed as irritating and boring. And so it needs some frills.First, they decided to make this bum a folk singer. They had previously made the movie "O Brother Where Art Thou?" (2000), which succeeded with people that liked the music, although it failed miserably with anyone that did not. So maybe they figured this movie would appeal to people that like folk music. And even if the folk music in the movie is pretty bad, at least as far as the music performed by the title character is concerned, we know we are supposed to overlook the fact that he is a self-important, obnoxious bum because he is an artist, and that means we are supposed to care.Frill number two is a cat. Having a cat continually appear and then disappear gives the movie a motif, making it appear that there is some deeper, hidden meaning to it all. There isn't, but something has to get this movie on its legs. The cat eventually turns out to have the name Ulysses. Gosh, you mean the return of the cat is like the return of Ulysses? Well, telling a dumb story with parallels to "The Odyssey" worked for James Joyce, so maybe the Coen brothers figured it would work for them too. And it recalls the main character in the movie "O Brother Where Art Thou?" So make that two dumb movies by the Coen brothers that are supposed to be spiced up somehow by alluding Homer's epic, with the second one also alluding to the first.Finally, there is a time loop. Sort of. Except that in the second iteration of the time loop, the cat does not get away. Now, there are some pretty good time loop movies. "Dead of Night" (1945) was the first movie I know of to try this, and it worked fairly well. And, of course, the greatest such movie is "Groundhog Day" (1993). But does a time loop belong in a movie about a folk singer? I mean, some genres don't really mix well. It's like a movie that starts out as a murder mystery, and halfway through, while we are trying to figure out who done it, Godzilla comes to town. However, the Coen brothers were desperate for another frill to keep this movie from seeming to be what it really is, and so a time loop is what we get.

wtmerrett I was very disappointed in this movie and I really wanted to like it as I am a fan of the Coen Brother's work. The character arc never occurred and I patiently waited for it to happen, but alas, nothing. There was no real character development and the film didn't go anywhere. Davis was in the same sad, loser position at the end as in the beginning. The usual cast of offbeat characters were here with John Goodman once again in a role that lets him bring out his weird side. Oscar Issac did a fine job and can sing but the music was not too my taste. Carey Mulligan got to play an angry women and pretty well stayed that way throughout the film. I don't see a great deal of growth in what the Coen's are doing now from their start and like the older stuff better as if was more offbeat and unusual. This was just boring. The cat was the best thing about this picture and I'm a dog person.

sharpobject2424 ** SPOILERS **Inside Llewyn Davis personally swept me away the first time I saw it and my head was swimming with the events throughout the story and the interpretations of them as I understood it. Please keep in mind as you read this that I'm speaking of art and interpretations are all they could possibly be, not anything concrete. But I have gathered that some people don't take much from the movie while I found at least the overall theme of an endless cycle to be pretty much blatant. Anywho this review is mostly for those viewers. So the most salient theme like I said is that of the endless cycle we follow Llewyn through. The relentless, crushing cycle of Llewyns life and the painful monotony of it all is only magnified by the casual way the viewer glimpses into it, as if it's inconsequential when the story starts or ends. I felt that in the last leg of the movie it was very obvious that this was simply another week in the life of Llewyn Davis. The constant familiar occurrences of a person making the same decisions in the same place, something not exclusive to a struggling musician but relevant all the same. It can be argued that none of these events are actually very significant, but simply tell Llewyns revolving story. The end is a kind of repeat of the beginning, but I feel convinced that some things may have not been there before when Llewyn experienced it. First I found that the poster Llewyn notices before his last gig seems very important. It's a movie poster that says "The Fantastic Journey" or something of the sort, a stimulus that to me suggests that Llewyns repetitive misadventures are not the end-all, but instead a means to an end. In other words the idea as I'm explaining it is that perhaps his story was not meaningless and it was a journey taking him to whatever's next. He plays his last gig and is socked by the same or similar goon as he was in the beginning, while Bob Dylan performs at the Gaslight, probably for the first time. If the goon represented the folk scene, or Llewyns environment in general (both of which were constantly "kicking him down" or whatever), then Llewyn literally says goodbye to that life at the end as the goon is driven away. This is placed perfectly with Bob Dylans performance because the monumental success of Dylans career was sure to be the final nail in Llewyns coffin. I also like to think that maybe there were signs earlier in the movie that Llewyn was staging his gradual exit. For instance, he got his shipping papers in order but there was a setback. So of course here he is playing The Gaslight again, and the cycle continues. Only now he is one big step closer to moving on and possibly, finally, being released from the cycle. So it can even be interpreted that any other week in this story is similar, but maybe peppered with these small steps. Another example of this is how he didn't let the cat out of the apartment the second time he left. Another small step. (The cat is a whole different review worth of speculation btw). Exceptional film. Perfectly executed I thought, and with a real artistic integrity. I think some people are bored by the music scenes, and I'm a musician so I really can't comment on that too objectively, but at the risk of sounding smug I can't help but say that if you didn't have the patience for the music scenes in this movie, or Treme, or things of the sort, then you really might not love music as much as you probably say you do.