Au Revoir

Rating: 9/10 (12 June 2016)

Last night I saw this very good movie about a man who is struggling to find his place in the music industry if 1960. We get to see one week of his life. This movie was called : "Inside Llewyn Davis"
The movie is directed by the masterful duo of Joel and Ethan Coen. These are not my favorite directing and screen writing duo, thought. That would be the Nolan brothers. Johnathan and Christopher. I haven't seen a lot of the Coens movies; I only saw "No Country for Old Man", a movie that was a bit dragging, but tense at the right moments, and "The Big Lebowski", a movie where the story didn't make a lot of sense, but where the jokes were on point. So after seeing those movies, I was expecting something similar. Maybe a bit boring or so? But I was completely wrong. This movie isn't boring at all! The Coens did an amazing job at directing the movie. They used a lot of steady cam, and close ups. The close ups really showed the emotion of Oscar Isaac (more on him later on in the review). The cinematography was also on point. This wasn't done by Roger Deakins, like in a lot of their movies. This time it was done by Bruno Delbonnel. The shots were all very pretty, and one scene in particular I liked. Well two. The beginning, when Oscars character walks outside, and gets beaten. And I said two, because in the end of the movie is the same scene. This is because this scene chronologically takes place after all the events of the movie, but in the beginning they want you to believe that this scene takes place before everything. That and the directing made this scene stand out for me. The acting was also great and the writing as well. What I also loved is that in the end they used other shots. But enough about that scene. The sound editing was good too. Some sound design was a bit doubtable but I still liked it. The editing overall was done fantastically. I absolutely loved it in this movie. The long takes of Oscar singing were fantastic.
The acting was fantastic, and due to one of the actors I decided to watch the movie. This actor was also the main actor, and this was Oscar Isaac. Last year I saw him act in two movies, where he played two totally different characters. In "Ex Machina" he was an asshole-ish character and he absolutely nailed it. And in "Star Wars" he was a very likable person, which he also nailed. Thanks to those roles I wanted to see more from him, and I so ended up with this movie. So, how was he? Bloody fantastic, I'll tell you that. He plays an interesting character and is very convincing at it too. I first didn't like him, but as the movie progresses you start to care more. His counterpart was played by Carey Mulligan. She was also very good. In the park-scene especially. The emotion in her face just feels so real. I was the most surprised by her. Justin Timberlake is also in this movie. For the second time he proves he can in fact act. He was very good. John Goodman also makes an appearance. Which wasn't really a surprise knowing this is a Coen movie. When he appeared the movie became better and better. There were some funny lines said by him and he delivers them greatly. I firstly was surprised that Garrett Hedlund acts in this movie. I firstly didn't recognize him, but also by his acting capabilities he surprised me. The only role I've seen him is was in "Tron", which wasn't his greatest role. In case you didn't get it, he was very good.
In this part I won't only talk about the screenplay, but also about the songs. So the screenplay was also written by the Coens. This is most of the time a very good part of their movies, and this time it is too. The jokes, when they are there, were funny. This was mostly dark, and subtle humor, the kind I like. I wouldn't classify this movie as a comedy, though. The normal dialogue was also very good, but sometimes the dialogue-less parts were the greatest, just because a picture can tell much more than words, especially if you have the Coens behind the camera. The characters were also very good. Like I've said was Oscars character, Llewyn, interesting. He was unpredictable at times. He had his outbursts, but that's how his "job" has made him. He's at the edge of everything. He has potentially made his ex pregnant, he has lost the cat he has to watch. His life has turned into a living hell. And throughout the movie you start to care about him, and feel sorry fir him.
Another thing that surprised me from the movie was the songs. I normally don't listen to this genre, but I absolutely loved the songs. The performances if them were handled greatly, thanks to the voice of Oscar. The lyrics also fitted his character very well. There were also some funny songs, like the Kennedy song, which, in my opinion, was also pretty good.
9.5/10