When will I stop doubting the Coen Brothers?
While I had heard great things about last year's quiet Coen film INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS, it sat on my Apple TV for weeks before I decided to check it out.
It's fantastic! Set in NYC in 1961, when folk music was huge, smoking was encouraged and the US was about to experience a turbulent decade of change, the film tells the story of Llewyn Davis.
Llewyn is incredibly talented, immensely self-centered and nearly aimless.
Oscar Isaac is brilliant as Llewyn, portraying a character so unlikeable, he's impossible NOT to root for!
The Coen brothers will make you laugh a lot, but also make you truly feel what these characters are going through as they search for love and stardom.
The great supporting cast includes Carey Mulligan and Justin Timberlake as a singing couple that often let Llewyn crash on their couch, John Goodman as a hilariously eccentric fellow car passenger and Garrett Hedlund as Goodman's unexplained driver.
Reminiscent of "Oh Brother Where Art Though" in its perfect mix of comedy, drama and powerful music, this is an instant classic.
It's one of the best written films I've seen in a long time. Where has Isaac been? He's incredible. The opening scene is Issac (Llewyn) alone on stage in a smoky sixties club, singing a folk song. I know how that sounds. Trust me, it will suck you in immediately its so perfectly executed on every level.
Just when you THINK you know where the characters are going or what the next plot twist is, Davis turns left. The plot points most filmmakers would bang over your heads to exhaustion, the Coens let quietly slip by like real life.
Don't let this one sit on the shelf unwatched like I did. It's my favorite film so far in 2014 and one of the Coen's all time best. A+
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