IMDb plot summary: A week in the life of a young singer as he navigates the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961.
Directed by Joel & Ethan Coen. Starring Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, and Justin Timberlake.
Like so many movies by the Coens, I'm not exactly sure what to make of this. I like individual moments, but I'm not certain I can say it hangs together as a whole. My least favorite thing about the Coens has always been their ending choices, which frequently feel like they just abruptly stopped making the movie, rather than actually *ending* their story. That is definitely the case here, and I am once again left unsatisfied and a little puzzled about what I'm supposed to conclude from that.
There were a lot of things I did like about this movie, though. The dialogue through was interesting and snappy while still feeling realistic. (I particularly liked Carey Mulligan's extremely vicious interactions with Llewyn at the beginning -- beautifully written and acted.) The cinematography is gorgeous, especially the soft lighting choices during song performances. Very atmospheric. And, of course, the musical performances are great. I really enjoy folk music and loved getting so hear so much of it in this flick.
So... I'm torn on this one. I suspect this is a movie that will be helped by just sitting with it for awhile, but for now I'm disappointed enough by the non-ending that my opinion is kind of... "Meh."
3 stars.
Flickchart: #917 out of 2092, below Father of the Bride Part II and above Office Space.
1 comment:
I thought this was incredibly boring. I enjoyed the music and the cinematography, and that's about it. The Coens have really been a let down lately.
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