A pleasant watch - unless (folk) music is uninviting for you

Rating: 7/10 (6 February 2014)

As I have managed to see all movies directed by Joel and/or Ethan Coen (many of them even multiple times), it is natural that Inside Llewyn Davis was on my list as well. I like the Coens' approach, choice of character actors, and that all characters are "odd" in different ways. The same applies to the movie in question, where the viewers are invited into the New York folk music scene in the 1960ies; thus, there are many songs fully performed on different occasions (probably annoying for them disliking Bob Dylan, The Byrds and like), but they are masterfully carried out and fully fit into the general context, at times, there are funny scenes during or after them. The mood of the movie is rather gloomy, stressed by the gray weather, and the protagonist's condition/situation and lifestyle enables to logically introduce the bunch of colorful characters and witty lines - with Roland Turner (splendidly performed by John Goodman) as the most "Coen-specific" one.
As for the cast, as typical to the Coens, there are both known and less known persons involved. Goodman is a kind of Coens' trademark already, Carey Mulligan and Justin Timberlake have suitable roles as well, Oscar Isaac as Llewyn Davis was not so vivid to me - perhaps due the fact I cannot remember him from other movies. But still, the chemistry is there, and the development/fate of characters remains unclear, unsettled - so pleasantly characteristic to the Coen brothers as well.
All in all, another nice contact with the Coens, although not at the level of e.g. Fargo or No Country for Old Men.