The King's New Clothes

Rating: 4/10 (24 January 2014)

Previous Coen films have been among my favorites of all time, especially "Fargo" and "True Grit". These brothers write and direct terrific films. But the praise for this film is undeserved. It reminds me of the fable of the King's New Clothes, where everyone is blinded by the king's celebrity and no one has the courage to state that the king is naked! This film is a dud. It is more of a vignette than a story. There is hardly a plot. I didn't even get the feeling that the principal character Isaac/Davis really loves music. He performs a few songs very well, but where are the scenes where he writes music, listens to others, shows passion? This film lacks depth and is missing the rich Coen humor and irony that we have come to expect.