Oscar Isaac anchors another masterpiece from the Coen Brothers in the way only Oscar Isaac can - as a character who you want to root for even through his glaring flaws.
The
Coen Brothers have released at least one significant, influential film four decades in a row - if they aren’t already considered masters of the craft, they will be soon - and the 2013 music-drama,
Inside Llewyn Davis, is one of their crowning achievements of the 2010s. Anchored by the supernaturally charismatic
Oscar Isaac, this film tells a cyclical story of a struggling, somewhat self-destructive folk musician, named Llewyn Davis, trying to make his way in the burgeoning music scene of early 1960s
Greenwich Village in New York City.
Llewyn, a gifted singer-songwriter, can’t seem to make anything work though. He’s independent to a fault, often refusing to perform with other musicians, even though it’s the advice he receives the most; he’s seemingly incapable of making the right decision in any given situation, with past choices constantly coming back to haunt him; and he’s also just kind of a self-absorbed douche at times.
The film ends as it begins, with some slight variations. I read an interesting theory about the film online that claims Llewyn is (unknowingly) caught in a time loop, similar to that in the comedic Fantasy movie
Groundhog Day (1993), and he’s fated to keep repeating the same series of events over and over again until little by little he finally gets it right. It seems like a pretty dern solid theory.
Aside from the terrific music and performances in the film (why the hell isn’t Oscar Isaac recording full albums? Is there anything he can’t do?),
Bruno Delbonnel’s cinematography is absurd - in the best way possible. He does things with light I’ve never seen before, and I’ve seen a lot of befores. I don’t know whether he’s some type of mathematical physics genius and has figured out how to bounce and bend light to his will, or if he’s some futuristic warlock who uses space magic to poke holes in the fabric of our reality so he can set scenes with inter-dimensional light beams; either way, his team up with the Coen’s resulted in some of the most mesmerizing shots of the century.
You can see more of the trio’s work in 2018’s
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (which I wasn’t a huge fan of, but again, wow wow wowie kabowie hot damn cover me in syrup and stick me to the Eiffel Tower [that’s a saying, don’t @ me] was it magnificent to look at).
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