You like happy endings, don't you?

Rating: 8/10 (11 January 2014)

Inside Llewyn Davis is the story of a week in the life of an emotionally drained and struggling folk song musician; he travels down a lonesome path in pursuit of his dreams, and hurts most of the people he comes in contact with. Oscar Isaac gives a fair performance as Llewyn emitting immodesty and playing some fine tunes. There's no doubt there'll be Oscar buzz for his undertaking of such a ignominious character. Nothing good comes out of him at all throughout the course of the film, and I was ready for it to end when it did.
We begin the film at the end of the week, where Davis is singing to a small crowd "Hang me, oh Hang me" and while it's clear from the beginning of the film Davis has talent he also has problems as well. He exits the cafe and without warning he is beaten by an older gentleman. The opening number and scene was rather depressing and it set the tone of the film quite well. So far I became compelled by Llewyn's talent and was eager to see where the Coen brothers would take me. Over the next 90 minutes I waited for the older gentleman to return and punch Davis in the face; his journey was tough to sit through. He makes stupid decisions, is penniless, lacks responsibility and is void of any compassion for others, even his cat, which he fails to take care for. He has one burning likable factor for the audience though; he has a passion for a career in the music business and is willing to turn against society to make a living doing what he loves. Society is the antagonist of this picture though; no one is on his side. We see some awesome faces; Justin Timberlake makes an appearance as Jim, one of Llewyn's acquaintances, but I didn't find him fitting in the part. On the other side of the supporting coin we have John Goodman as Roland Turner; an insulting Jazz musician who ridicules Davis and his brother's suicide (ouch!) The supporting parts are all nice, especially Carey Mulligan as Jean, playing the "I'm right, you're wrong" ex-girlfriend of his. They all fit together in one nice package of people who are not agreeable with Davis, making his struggle even harder to watch than it already is. By the end, Llewyn has done a lot of damage to himself and others and we're back in the cafe again. This time, he's got an audience and people actually like his music, but when he sings, does he have purpose? Is it true? I didn't believe so and the one true factor he had going for himself had been stripped away by his ego and I was satisfied with him being beaten in the end.
This movie is not all unicorns and rainbows; if you can handle the harsh film making strategies of the Coen brothers then by all means give it a go. It features exceptional cinematography and performances and will no doubt be talked about for awards season this year. As wrangling as this film was I still enjoyed it and it was worth the watch.