Inside Llewyn Davis is a drifting film in all meanings of the word. Just as the plot orbits around the existence of starving artist Llewyn Davis, its overall pace merely plods along. It never appears to go anywhere nor follow the traditional trajectory of a story.
From the outside looking in, the film promises to be enticing. It is a tale of a humble musician, Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac), who is struggling to make something of himself and launch his career in 1960s Greenwich Village in New York City.
Penniless and homeless, Llewyn makes his way around all of the local clubs with various nightly gigs. He also finds himself sleeping on the couches of several casual acquaintances and friends, most notably, the loyal Jim (Justin Timberlake) and feisty and hostile Jean (Carey Mulligan) Berkey.
Given Llewyn’s tension with his married friends and difficulties with launching his folk music career, audiences might expect the story to pick up its tempo and actually tell the story, or rather, maturation of the sometimes absent-minded and directionless Llewyn. However, the film fails to leave an impact by its conclusion.
Despite the beautiful and emotional music produced by Academy Award winner T Bone Burnett, Inside Llewyn Davis starts to lose its initial promise and sparkle about 30 minutes in, a great disappointment to audiences.
First, Llewyn befriends a stray cat, which, symbolically, bears a striking resemblance to him as a wandering musician. This bond would appear to develop and the two would appear to have a lifelong camaraderie, but Llewyn eventually loses the cat and arbitrarily never mentions it again.
After meeting the cat, Llewyn then has to go with Jean to a gynecologist’s office to pay for her abortion (It is suspected that Llewyn fathered her unborn child without Jim’s knowledge). After Jean has her procedure, perhaps a sub-plot would emerge outlining the romantic woes of Llewyn and his growing tension with Jean. That never happens, as Jean is rarely mentioned for the remainder of the film.
In all likelihood, the most interesting part of Inside Llewyn Davis is when Llewyn hitchhikes with a beat poet named Johnny Five (Garrett Hedlund) and obnoxious jazz musician and heroin addict Roland Turner (John Goodman). It is unclear where they are all going at first, but it becomes apparent that they are making their way to Chicago. Lost souls themselves, they and Llewyn would presumably turn out to be good friends. However, Turner overdoses on heroin in a public bathroom, and Johnny gets arrested for speeding leaving Llewyn, once again, on his own to find his own way to Chicago where he and his proposed act are eventually rejected by a renowned nightclub owner.
Throughout this bizarre and disconnected string of events, this is the point where the film “ends,” even though it does go on for some time after that. Some could argue that the wandering nature of the film and the lack of a satisfying ending reflect the life and difficulties faced by musicians like Llewyn in the 1960s.
This argument is appreciated, and the film could be interpreted as authentic if viewed from this perspective. By the conclusion, however, there is no real sense that the “story” has followed any trace of a coherent path. It started off drifting and ended the same way with not much in between.
The highlights of Inside Llewyn Davis are the acting by Mulligan and Timberlake and the simple folk music. Mulligan and Timberlake both bring the only glimmer of dramatic tension, interest and humor to an otherwise bleak tale. Meanwhile, the expertly produced and written music provides a peaceful backdrop and a welcome respite to the film’s duller moments.
Overall, despite the hype that surrounds Inside Llewyn Davis, it fails to hit the right chord with audiences.
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