Inside Llewyn Davis

Look this film to folk music is in a way line Barton Fink is to Hollywood except BF is more bizarre and stylized. More drug induced. If one told you that the Coens were making a film about Hollywood on the 40s/50s and you went blindly to see BF you might also be dissapointed. Both films are really about one very talented yet imperfect man. Each who really don't seem to fit in anywhere

 

I watched this film about a week ago and really enjoyed it. It's not brilliant but very good. It's so easy to leap on the Coen brothers band wagon (the emperors new clothes spring to mind)
It wasn't until a week later that I realised Justin Timberlake was even in it so good was his bearded image.

 

And the main couple were also in Drive together Isaac and Carey

 

They needed a Welsh name. I think your theory on the name is ridiculous.

 

The Van Ronk book is a million times better than the film. But I liked the movie anyway.

 

I've never seen a thread on this forum about something so intelligent (this great film) and read so many silly, disparaging comments.
No wonder this film is so polarizing; you can see it in this thread.

I still say it's too deep for most people.

 

I just learnt about this movie in the TV news today, I'm eager to see it at the first opportunity and purchase the DVD/BluRay, I watch and collect every movie the Cohen Brothers make.

 

Great film. My guess is that the folks on here who hate it so much were looking for a different film, something having more to do with van Ronk, or the folk scene, or whatever. As long as you don't have that preconception you're in for a very interesting ride. The main character was, I thought, very familiar and realistic: a dynamic guy, sort of a d%$*, sort of an f-up, who is trying to navigate an a scene that's in the process of changing from being about art to being about commerce. One of the previous posts described it as visually ugly, but I completely disagree - it's very grim in it's use of color, but I actually thought it looked great. I didn't love the songs, but I did get what they were going for and found the performances compelling, which is often not the case in films like this. The cat was great.


I don't always like the Coen brothers' films because I feel they often lack heart, lack sympathy. I felt that wasn't the case here.

 

And it's pretty amazing how different both were in the respective movies. And I don't just mean their outer appearances.

 

Someone fill me in on the name being an inside joke. I don't get it.

 

I enjoyed the movie but left with mixed feelings. I felt it really sagged during the car scenes to/from Chicago. The meeting with Bud Grossman was important and a strong emotional peak but the car journey on either side of it just did nothing for me.

 

From wiki
Llywelyn the Great (Welsh: Llywelyn Fawr, [ɬəˈwɛlɨn vaur]), full name Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, (c. 1172 – 11 April 1240) was a Prince of Gwynedd in north Wales and eventually de facto ruler over most of Wales. By a combination of war and diplomacy he dominated Wales for 40 years.

I thought of this Welsh connection too when I first saw the title of the movie.

 

I really enjoyed this movie (caught it on Saturday, 4:30pm session... The only session it was showing, and at a tiny 'Arts Centre' cinema).

I thought this was a great little movie, can't wait to own it and its soundtrack
The Coen Brothers did it again IMO, this film deserved to do a lot better than it has done so far. Over here, it seems like hardly anyone knew or knows about it.

Hopefully word of mouth will get around and it will become a cult movie (like a few of their others).

 

I haven't seen the film yet, but a friend played "The Death of Queen Jane" for me this weekend (not the recording; she actually played it on guitar and sang it for me)... and it brought tears to my eyes.

 

Saw this last night - thought it very well crafted, but as a poster said above, a film I can respect more than enjoy. Very honest about the music business - 'I don't see any money here' and thought-provoking about the art vs commerce debate generally. I also thought Mel's secretary was hilarious!

 

Didn't love the film. Didn't even like most of the songs (except the Kennedy one).
The Van Ronk song played over the closing credits had so much character and was the most enjoyable part, and so much better than any of the songs in the rest of the film. Just showed everything that was missing from the film performances.

 

And if you wanted a film from the Coens that is like an actual Hollywood movie from the 40s/50s... check out Hudsucker Proxy (one of my favorites).

 

Was just listening to the soundtrack CD this morning... my three favourite songs are "Five Hundred Miles", "The Death of Queen Jane", and "Fare Thee Well".

 

I just wish my blu-ray player came with a "Jennifer Jason Leigh removal filter" so I could delete her completely from the film. She completely ruins it for me with her piss poor Rosalind Russell/Katherine Hepburn imitation. HORRID.

 

I thought the movie was just okay, but I *really* like the soundtrack. It sounds
great on vinyl.

 

Good movie, not great. I may have gone into it with expectations that were too high after first watching the concert film that was on Showtime and being a huge Coen Bros fan. I absolutely loved the soundtrack and immediately went to Amazon to order it on vinyl.

One thing that probably hurts this film are the immediately comparisons to other Coen Bros films and the top Oscar contenders. While it's a very enjoyable movie to watch, it's not really in the same league as a lot of its companions in those two categories.

I still recommend that all music lovers watch it.

 

Definitely not one for the masses, but that's what I really like about the Coens: they don't often go the easy route or pander to a wanted demographic. Their movies are sometimes challenging and more often than not, offbeat. That they've achieved their success with such a varied and rich body of work does reaffirm one's faith in the movie-going public.

 

I 'll say it again ILD is the best film I've seen in the last few months followed by Nebraska... I highly recommend both films to film buffs .

 

I'm totally with you on this. My wife and I finally had a chance to see 'Inside Llewyn Davis' yesterday (it finally came to our city this weekend, which is entirely ridiculous considering 'digital prints' are so cheap and we have so many screens here) and it didn't disappoint me at all. In fact it was more powerful than the excellent trailers led me to believe. I loved how they recreated that era of NYC (on such a tiny budget...it was all about superb location scouting and clever use of angles) and the complex and nuanced characters. Llewyn was so unlikable at times but eventually enduring, all of it believable. I love typical Coen twists as well, that even after all these years I never see coming. The moment with his father (sad and funny), the big audition in Chicago, etc. I love how we are allowed to figure things out without being hit over the head (the song royalty on 'Please Mr. Kennedy' comes to mind).

'Nebraska' and 'Inside Llewyn Davis' keep me thinking long after seeing the movie. I find myself thinking about scenes days later and going 'Ooooooh. Hmmmmm.' I loved this movie. Loved it.

dan c