The film opens inside the Gaslight Café as a young Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) navigates the Village folk scene in 1961. He tells his clapping audience “This is a folk song that never got sold” but that’s okay, he’s not giving up. Llewyn is a soulful starving artist sleeping on friend’s sofas and losing their cats. Jim (Justin Timberlake) feels bad for Llewyn, while Jim’s wife Jane (Carey Mulligan) is a raving maniac whenever Llewyn is around, which is amusing to watch, since whenever she performs on stage with her husband, Jim she’s angelic…practically channeling Peter, Paul and Mary.
But when Jim gives Llewyn a shot at a gig for the big time, Llewyn forfeits his royalties in order to get an immediate check, only to find out later the song might become big. This is the life of a starving artist. Living in the ‘now’ and believing in the journey no matter how crazy, even if the journey includes a long drive to Chicago with angry Roland Turner (John Goodman)another version of his many recurring and insanely twisted characters for the Coen brothers films that began with The Big Lebowski.
Llewyn is a likable loser…gentle, kind but just can’t catch a much-needed break.
This is the best Coen Brothers film since Fargo with all the kookiness, and unmistakable dark Coens style filled with colorful characters on their flawed journey. There’s nothing warm and fuzzy about this film except for the various cute house cats. Llewyn’s demise is on the stage of the very place that a nobody named “Bob Dylan” will show up to play, too, and well, the folk world is about to shut out their own. But wow, can the lead actor, Oscar Isaac, really sing. One would suspect, Oscar will be nominated for one. : ♔ ♕ ♚ 1/2