I just saw #InsideLlewynDavis. What a beautifully directed film. What a beautifully shot film. What a beautifully written film. What a beautifully acted film. What beautiful music. (Don't worry, I have just one more "what.") What the hell was the point? I didn't dislike it, nor was I ever bored, but "Llewyn Davis" is senseless melancholia. The lead is a self-absorbed, self-righteous, ungrateful mooch. He has talent but only sporadic ambition, and when his best laid plans go awry--and they all go awry--he blames everyone but himself. He is, in short, impossible to root for. We understand that he has just come from the bowels of tragedy and we may indeed just happen to be catching him at his worst possible moment, but if that is the case, then show him clawing his way out of it. At least give us a hint of clawing to come. Instead, the Coen Bros., whose films I by and large adore, have created a character without any arc whatsoever--the character at the end is utterly unchanged from the one at the beginning--in an episodic, rambling film bereft of a plot. I've been inside Llewyn Davis and didn't find anything there to care about.

Reply · Report Post