TF:
The Coen brothers take a particular delight in losers – think H. I. McDunnough (Nicolas Cage) in Raising Arizona, Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy) in Fargo, Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) in A Serious Man, and plenty more.
But Llewyn, artistically talented but socially and professionally inept, ceaselessly imposing on friends’ waning tolerance (and their sofas) is perhaps the most consistently hapless of the Coen roster of screw-ups. “There must be someone in the five boroughs who isn’t pissed at me,” he muses despondently – but by this stage in the game, there probably isn’t.
The Coens, always exact to place and period, locate Llewyn’s sad tale in the Greenwich Village folk-music scene of the early ’60s. Although at one point our hero makes a fruitless trip to Chicago, which throws him into the company of an elderly bluesman (Coens regular John Goodman) and his driver (Garrett Hedlund), who mumbles incomprehensible beat poetry to himself.
As ever with the brothers, there’s a relishable gallery of supporting roles, from an unhelpful lift operator to the Jewish-Chinese couple who’ve decided to call their son Greenfung.
The Coen brothers on top sardonic form with a winning tale of an incorrigible loser. Hits the right note on every level, from period vibe to performance (human and feline).
With the new The Crow remake coming soon, we take a look back at the 30-year-old cult classic original–and where the stars are now.
Kaam Chalu Hai Review: Based on true events, this movie is thought-provoking and inspiring
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Agree with the review. My favorite movie of 2013.