The Coen's... enough said

Rating: 9/10 (5 December 2013)

Sometimes when you are with your friends you will go into those 'what if' scenarios. You know things like what if you found a million dollars, or what if you only had one week to live? I always remember someone asking me what would be the one thing you would grab if your house was on fire. Well I want to change that question to this: if you could only choose one filmmaker to always make movies, which would you, choose? How do you decide, when there are so many great filmmakers? Well my choice would be the Coen Brothers. Now I know what you are thinking, I said one filmmaker, and my answer happen to be brothers, but my response to that would be, when they direct and write their films they are like one incredible creative force.
I choose the Coen's because they march to their own drummer and tell stories that always seem special, and memorable. They don't make movies that exist in the normal world; instead they invite you into their world. Now in the Coen's world there tends to be a lot of anger, but with that anger you also get passion and the most unique kind of humor as well. In their new film "Inside Llewyn Davis", they tell a story about a young folk singer trying to navigate Greenwich Village in 1961. That singer's name is Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac), and if you couldn't guess by the name the story is about him. Llewyn is trying to cope with being on his own after his musical partner jumped off the George Washington Bridge. Although extremely talented things just don't seem to go right for Llewyn, and it is mostly his fault. You see Llewyn does not have the best attitude and always relies on the generosity of others to survive. It could be crashing with his friend's girlfriend Jean (Carey Mulligan) or getting work with Jim (Justin Timberklake) to help pay his debts. No matter how bad his life can get though, Llewyn can always escape into his music.
I know why I love a Coen Brother's movie; to me it is just like comfort food. As in comfort food, you know what you are getting; you will get great characters, a great story, and a little added "Coeness" that makes their stories so special. While their movies have those central elements in common, their stories and themes are never the same. With "Inside Llewyn Davis" everything is there and as with "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" we get a great soundtrack to boot. Oscar Isaac is brilliant as Llewyn Davis, who learned to play guitar for this role. In fact all of the musical scenes where actually recorded live during filming for an authentic sound. Everyone has a favorite Coen movie, because no two seem to ever be alike. The only thing they have in common is they are always seem to be one of the better movies of that year, and with "Inside Llewyn Davis" that trend remains.
Brian Taylor
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