Reviews for this film from our members:
- Marco Albanese @ Stanze di Cinema [Italian]
- Excerpt: Chi si aspettava un affresco della New York del folk, del fermento artistico del Greenwich Village negli anni ’60 restera’ forse deluso, perche’ il film e’ invece il ritratto malinconico di un artista solitario, in piccola parte ispirato alla vita di Dave Van Ronk.
- Rick Aragon @ Rick’s Cafe Texan
- José Arce @ LaButaca.net
- Excerpt: Joel y Ethan Coen regresan con uno de los grandes títulos del año. Una odisea con Ulises incluido en la que la figura principal recorre las calles del Greenwich Village tratando de luchar contra demonios creados en parte por él mismo. Ineludible.
- Edwin Arnaudin @ Ashvegas
- Excerpt: The brothers present a fully realized 1961 Greenwich Village folk scene and populate it with familiar musical characters, but a plodding narrative and a mystifying final act undo much of its charm. Likewise difficult is a deep sadness and lack of likable characters, though the lasting power such a storm produces is not easily forgotten.
- Jason Bailey @ Flavorwire
- Excerpt: They beautifully and convincingly recreate the streets and coffee shops where he dwells, and seem intoxicated with the look and feel of those surroundings: the narrowness of the hallways in a downtown walk-up, the way cigarette smoke drifts into the darkness of the Gaslight, how those giant old microphones reflect the shaft of the spotlight, the way the sun seeps into the empty Gate of Horn in mid-afternoon.
- Tim Brayton @ Antagony & Ecstasy
- Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat @ SpiritualityandPractice.com
- Excerpt: The struggling quest of a folk singer to find out whether or not he has the right stuff.
- [New – 4/3/14] | Enrique Buchichio @ Cartelera.com.uy [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Dos de los cineastas más originales y contra la corriente trabajando en la industria hoy en día no pueden ser – al menos no siempre – del gusto de una mayoría. Ciertamente no cuando presentan una obra tan cálida, poética y atemporal como Inside Llewyn Davis.
- Bob Cashill @ Popdose.com
- Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: Writer/directors Joel and Ethan Coen have made a bookend to their masterpiece “A Serious Man” with this circular study of a man spiraling into the forgotten life of an also-ran, this time his own refusal to sell out trumping God’s interference.
- Tony Dayoub @ Cinema Viewfinder
- Excerpt: Maybe because of Oscar Isaac’s sloe-eyed charisma or the Coens’ positioning of his character as a put-upon underdog (not unlike A SERIOUS MAN’s hero) Llewyn comes off as considerably more sympathetic than you’d think. Still an odious person but likable.
- Carlos del Río @ El rincón de Carlos del Río [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Estoy llegando a la conclusión de que con los Coen te lo pasas muy bien si te hacen gracia las mismas cosas que a ellos.
- Michael Dequina @ TheMovieReport.com
- Jim Dixon @ Examiner.com
- Excerpt: You know you’re getting old when the upstart Coen Brothers are suddenly master craftsmen, at the height of their powers. But that’s exactly what you get from “Inside Llewyn Davis;” a rich beautifully crafted film that nonetheless retains the Coens’ trademark quirkiness.
- Billy Donnelly @ This Is Infamous
- Mark Dujsik @ Mark Reviews Movies
- Excerpt: It’s some sort of cosmic joke on Llewyn, who must be constantly reminded that he likely will only do any good for himself if he actually lets another person into his life.
- Candice Frederick @ Reel Talk
- Dustin Freeley @ MoviesAboutGladiators.com
- Excerpt: The Coen brothers’ new film is of and about timelessness in the ucontrollable world that we fashion around ourselves.
- Susan Granger @ www.susangranger.com
- Excerpt: Enthralling, enlightening and evocative of the sweet desperation of one week in the life of a folksinger in New York’s Greenwich Village in 1961
- John Hanlon @ JohnHanlonReviews.com
- Excerpt: A poignant and thoughtful character study of a drifting folk singer trying to succeed in New York in 1961.
- Mark Hobin @ Fast Film Reviews
- Excerpt: A great cinematographer can take a really bleak subject and evoke an exquisite mood. Bruno Delbonnel makes dark smoky nightclubs and cold, bleak winters look positively inviting.
- Travis Hopson @ Punch Drunk Critics
- Excerpt: What makes the film work as much as it does are two things: Oscar Isaac and the soulful soundtrack, with the two forming a near perfect synthesis of sight and sound.
- Dustin Jansick @ Way Too Indie
- Excerpt: Some great moments, just not as many as you would expect from the Coen brothers.
- Dan Jardine @ Cinemania
- Excerpt: Lower tier Coen Brothers fare
- MaryAnn Johanson @ FlickFilosopher.com
- Excerpt: Hilarious in the Coens’ weird, askew way, but also absolutely crushing. This movie breaks my heart in a hundred different ways.
- Jeremy Kibler @ The Artful Critic
- Excerpt: A synergy of the Coens’ unique visual style and not-always-likable characters, “Inside Llewyn Davis” is something special with a “take it or leave it” attitude that cinephiles and Coen completists will want to take.
- Benjamin Kramer @ The Voracious Filmgoer
- Kristin Dreyer Kramer @ NightsAndWeekends.com
- Donald Levit @ ReelTalk Movie Reviews
- Don Lewis @ Film Threat
- Wesley Lovell @ Cinema Sight
- Excerpt: More than just a film about struggling in the Greenwich Village folk scene of the 1960’s, Inside Llewyn Davis uses historical folk songs to paint a portrait of a miserable young singer facing depression while trying to survive and find success.
- Marty Mapes @ Movie Habit
- Excerpt: Mythic tale of artistic rejection in the 1960s folk scene
- Piers Marchant @ Sweet Smell of Success
- Matthew McKernan @ FilmWhinge
- Excerpt: As funny and as moving as it sometimes is, Inside Llewyn Davis is too unfocused and ill disciplined to be truly great.
- Jason McKiernan @ Film Racket
- Excerpt: …in its soul, this is a tale of two very simple elements: The Music and The Struggle. Anyone with even a tangential relationship to the Arts understands that those two words are quite often synonymous.
- Brent McKnight @ Beyond Hollywood
- Excerpt: Inside Llewyn Davis sticks to your ribs and remains with you even after days.
- Ross Miller @ Thoughts On Film
- Excerpt: A wonderfully melancholic, nostalgic and often hilarious tale of the week in the life of a talented musician in 1960s New York who is on the cusp of making it but never quite getting there.
- Nell Minow @ The Movie Mom
- Simon Miraudo @ Quickflix
- Pat Mullen @ Cinemablographer
- Excerpt: Ulysses the cat might be the Coen Brothers’ greatest creation since Marge Gunderson.
- Michael Pattison @ Tribune
- Paulo Peralta @ CinEuphoria [Portuguese]
- Jonathan Richards @ www.jonrichardsplace.com
- Excerpt: Llewyn Davis is never going to have a street named after him. But he’s got his name on a damned good movie.
- Tom Santilli @ Examiner.com
- Excerpt: Inside Llewyn Davis isn’t awful, but it just lazily exists.
- Josh Spiegel @ Sound on Sight
- Frank Swietek @ One Guys Opinion
- Excerpt: A brilliant portrait of the artist as a failed man.
- Sam Turner @ Film Intel
- Excerpt: ‘without signposting it for you, this is the Coen’s making their film about how you move on when someone close to you has passed’
- Mel Valentin @ VeryAware.com
- Excerpt: Another Coen Brothers (near) masterpiece.
- Sarah Ward @ artsHub
- Andrew Wyatt @ Look/Listen (St. Louis Magazine)
- Excerpt: The Coens have never made a film quite like this, which sharply expresses how it feels to be utterly without plans or hope for the future.
