Inside Llewyn Davis

The Coen brothers in chill-out mode. This not very ambitious but pleasantly relaxing underground flick has no plot, but its atmosphere is excellent in places – especially during the brilliantly edited (including great work with sounds) car journey to Chicago, dominated by the film’s best character (played by John Goodman). As a whole, however, the film is unsatisfactory, it does not give the audience what it is waiting for. Factotum, also a story about an underdog/loser, was formally more conventional, but with more entertaining content. (03/04/2014)

At certain moments, the uncomfortably familiar feeling of being lost, weary, and lonely during the grayest American winter in many years. It could perhaps be argued that the muted colors go a little too far in the overall bleakness of the film, but to its credit it is constant in its mood throughout and doesn't really offer any way out that would otherwise kind of belie itself. A surreal journey of several days to Chicago, where time stretches out into a seemingly endless black mass from which there is no escape, as all around is a frost-covered wasteland bordered by cones of car lights, is the Coen brothers' darkest period. "I'm tired. I thought I just needed a night's sleep but it's more than that." (04/09/2018)

Even though the Coens still have their own poetic style, even though this film has absolutely fantastic music, it is not something I would consider exceptional. The Coens delve into their absurd drama about a singer, we follow his fate, his "success" during one week, but to make the impression stronger, just like him, we also do not find a resolution. Unfortunately, this is not a film that would enchant me, no matter how well-made it may be. (02/09/2014)

The saddest film by the Coen brothers with their unrivaled, least sympathetic protagonist. It sounds like a bittersweet folk hit about a guy who was out of it his entire life. You know exactly where the verse, the chorus and the specific rhyme belong. And that's the power of a simple song that crept under my skin like frost and the purring of a cat. Nothing profound, just a beautiful experience that needs no explanation / defense. [85%] (02/13/2014)

And they didn't disappoint again! Those Coens are some crazy bros. Inside Llewyn Davis is a wonderfully melancholic affair that manages to evoke smiles, laughter and moments of tense silence full of subtle emotions. All this accompanied by an excellent soundtrack, perfect actors and an incredibly great passage of the journey to Chicago, in which John Goodman shines in particular and which is one of the best things the Coens have ever written and directed. I was waiting for Bob Dylan to appear in the film the entire time, and still nothing... Then at the end... Or was it at the beginning? Go see for yourself. (03/26/2014)