The Coens explore the alleys and doorways of old Greenwich Village

Rating: 9/10 (21 March 2014)

This one doesn't have the manic energy of "O Brother, Where Art Thou?," the Coens' last foray into American folk culture. Set in the Village in 1961, just before the big commercial folk boom took off, "Llewyn" is a dry, sardonic tale that asks the musical trivia question "The first time that Dylan played the Gaslight, who was the guy that went on right before him?" Oscar Isaac doesn't have the pipes of a great trad singer like Van Ronk or Ewan MacColl, but he does pretty well by the songs, and he gives a great performance as an actor. Llewyn loves the music, doesn't want to go back to just "existing" (specifically, signing on as a merchant seaman, like his father), but he's too hard-edged and uncompromising to do more than just scrape by. After he blows an audition by singing a dismal Child ballad (why not "Cocaine Blue"? D'oh!), the clubowner offers him a spot in a new commercial folk trio if he shaves his beard and just keeps the goatee (that's Peter, Paul and Mary for you younger folks), but Llewyn just shakes his head.
The story's played pretty straight; Coen brothers weirdness mostly occurs on a roadtrip to Chicago in the company of a junkie jazzman (that's the John Goodman part), a mumbling Beat poet and a big orange cat. Survivors of that era may hear echoes not only of Van Ronk but Tom Paxton, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Jean Ritchie (the gentle ballad singer that Llewyn heckles), plus an a capella version of the Clancy Brothers; a few red-diaper babies may even get the throwaway joke about the Schachtmanites. I must admit I was dubious at first, about both "Llewyn" and Llewyn (he's not a very relatable character, as they say), but being a confirmed Coen bros. fan, I watched the disk again and was totally won over.