Grade: B-

The Coen Brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis is a quiet, somber, quirky, bleak look at a young singer trying to make it in the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961 after his Garfunkel-like partner dies. Oscar Isaac was perfect as the title character, and he is a talented singer/guitarist. I also enjoyed supporting performances from Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, Justin Timberlake, F. Murray Abraham, and Doogie Howser’s friend Max Casella. Ultimately, I am not sure of the point, as I hope I don’t give too much away by saying he takes a journey but goes nowhere. There is a scene that happens both at the beginning and at the end. I am not sure if this is a flashback, or if the same thing is happening again with, coincidentally, almost identical dialogue. I found posts on the IMDb message board supporting both the “flashback” and the “it happens again” theories, so no help there. But I did enjoy the cameo by “Bob Dylan” at the end, and the beautiful original music that was featured throughout. Most of all, though, I SO appreciated that what was happening musically always matched what the instrumentalists were doing with their fingers.
Grade: B-
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