Absurdity, the spice of life

Rating: 8/10 (10 January 2014)

The Everly Brothers, The Andrews Sisters, The Carter Family, even Karen and Richard Carpenter; there has always been something special about family harmonies, something that separates them from all the rest no matter how good.
The Coen Brothers, in their filmmaking harmonies, have clearly separated themselves from all the rest. With now a body of work spanning almost 30 years, they rival the accomplishments of any filmmakers anytime, anywhere, and in the vague and general category of Americana, I don't think they can be touched.
" Inside Llewyn Davis" is yet another foray into a character's existential journey into a Coen Brother's absurdist reality. Unlike most other Coen Brothers heroes which have a plan they attempt to execute and are resisted by absurd external forces, Llewyn Davis's biggest problem is himself.
A talented singer/musician Davis tries to make his mark in the pre-Dylan Greenwich Village folk scene of the early 1960s. But he can't get out of his own way. He alienates his family and friends; he misses opportunities; and makes careless decisions that will haunt him in the future. He commits to no one and no thing. In fact he's a bit of an A..hole.
Oscar Isaac has the difficult task of creating enough empathy for this extremely flawed character so that the audience will follow his journey through the length of the movie. With a certain quiet intensity, he pulls it off.
Isaac fashions the character who is not so much following his own star, but is doing the best he knows how with the talents given to him. In the process of day to day life, Llewyn makes rash and expedient decisions that are largely determined by exigent circumstances that require that decision right now, and invariably those decisions are not so much wrong, but more they just don't work out.
Opportunities are often best seen in hindsight.
The Coen Brothers always create great supporting roles and this is no exception. Justin Timberlake plays Jim Berky a friend and fellow musician of Llewyn who does his best to help Llewyn out. I continue to be amazed at Timberlake's range as an actor.
If you remember his cynical hustler in "Social Media", here he plays the exact polar opposite as a naïve stereotypical 60's pre Kennedy Assassination idealist who is absolutely certain that everything is going to turn out alright.
Carrie Mulligan plays Jean Berky (Jim's wife) who has had an adulterous relationship with Llewyn. Mulligan gives a one note performance, always angry and berating Llewyn at every opportunity. It becomes a bit tiresome after a while, especially considering that she takes none of the responsibility for her own condition, but it seems to be what the script calls for so it's hard to blame Mulligan.
John Goodman has his customary role in a Coen Brothers movie, here he plays a bombastic (what else could Goodman play?) passenger in Llewyns car pool to Chicago. I have no idea as to the purpose of this character and its relationship to the rest of the movie, but it's Goodman so it's entertaining to watch.
Just as an aside, I often don't get what's going on in a Coen Brothers movie. To this day I don't really get "No Country for Old Men", but I liked it.
F. Murry Abraham has one scene, and he dominates it. A great screen presence, I wish I could see more of him.
And I would be remiss if I did not give the brothers credit for managing a great performance out a big orange tabby cat named Ulysses. It is Ulysses who probably elicits the biggest laugh of the movie.
Coen Brothers fan that I am, this effort is a little too ambiguous for me. I like my characters to have a little direction, whereas the point of this movie seems to be the lack of direction. The brothers admit that there is no real plot to this movie,it is a character study, and the character is not all that appealing.
It's the story of a screw up, but a not degenerate screw up, but a sort of "everyman" screw up. Our egos would have to be pretty high and mighty if we were to think that given the circumstances Llewyn found himself in that we might not make the same choices. It is this distinctly Coen Brothers touch that kept me interested in the movie.
Still, in the end Llewyn is a character who one could say gets exactly what he deserves. That he is reaping that which he has sown.
Of course you could say the same thing about "Citizen Kane". So there's that.