Review: Inside Llewyn Davis

by Trevor Kirkendall

★★★½

The latest from Joel and Ethan Coen is “Inside Llewyn Davis”, a look at the folk music scene in New York City in 1961, right before a certain young man began singing about how the answers, my friend, are blowin’ in the wind. The Coens film is a visually striking film, complete with memorable songs from industry legend T Bone Burnett and Mumford and Sons frontman Marcus Mumford. It also showcases the Brothers on the top of their game.

Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) is a folk singer. He called Greenwich Village his home, even though he just lives on other people’s couches on a rotating basis. And if you ask his friend Jean (Carey Mulligan), Llewyn Davis is an asshole. That’s because she’s pregnant and it might be his. Of course, it might be Jim’s (Justin Timberlake), her boyfriend and musical collaborator (they’re a singing duo themselves, and quite popular). She wants Jim’s baby but not Llewyn’s. So she needs to terminate it just in case it isn’t Llewyn’s. Which is why he’s an asshole.

Llewyn’s songs are good. He has representation with a very small manager, Mel (Jerry Grayson), but doesn’t earn enough money from him. Llewyn was in a folk duo earlier in his career, but his counterpart committed suicide, leaving Llewyn alone to continue on as a solo artist. Llewyn has asked Mel to send his new solo record to a manager in Chicago named Bud Grossman (F. Murray Abraham) who also runs his own club. He’s sure Bud will love his music and agree to manage him. He’s already set up Jim and Jean’s dorky friend Troy Nelson (Stark Sands) so how could he not like Llewyn?

After a recording session for an awful yet insanely catchy song that Jim wrote with Al Cody (Adam Driver), Llewyn decides to forgo the royalties and just take a lump sum check for the session right now. He ends up using the money to help pay for gas to ride along with one of Al’s friends, jazz musician Roland Turner (John Goodman) and his valet Johnny Five (Garrett Hedlund) to Chicago. There, he hopes to catch the attention of Bud Grossman and become the biggest thing in folk music.

This is vintage Coen Brothers material, from the story to its structure to the well-crafted handling of the filmmaking itself. And it’s as close to a musical as we’ve seen from them, so of course the music is phenomenal as well. The Brothers have made a career making films about gritty people that don’t just despise one another, but they hate themselves too. Llewyn Davis is this kind of character. “Inside Llewyn Davis” closely remebles the tone of their earlier film “A Serious Man”. One centralized character that isn’t very likeable. You would think that formula would make for a chaotic film, and left to any other filmmaker, it probably would be. But the Coen Brothers are right at home with this type of subject.

Are you supposed to love him or hate him? The Brothers don’t really give us anything to love about him, except maybe his music. He’s rude to just about everyone he meets. He doesn’t really care about the feelings of Jean, who he may or may not have put in a troubling situation. Although he feels she’s partially to blame, but who says that in this situation? According to Jean, an asshole would. Which is what Llewyn is.

The Brothers take another snapshot of life with this story. Only this time, they focus entirely on one individual. Isaac is on screen for every scene of this film, and he’s only missing from a select few frames. He performs all the music as well. Isaac succeeds in brilliant fashion by playing a character no one likes, yet is still trying to gain some of your emotion in process. There are a few moments when I found myself empathizing with him only to be slapped back into reality by a brash comment in the following scene.

The rest of the cast is filled out with people who attempt to balance out Llewyn, but to little success. Mulligan is fantastic in her role as Jean, a woman with a sweet folky singing voice and a smile to make men’s hearts melt when she’s on stage singing. Off state, she’s an angry woman cursing like a sailor whenever she’s around Llewyn. Timberlake as Jim is also wonderful in the role (which is becoming somewhat of a consistent critique of Timberlake; the man can act). He’s nice and loveable like Jean is on stage, but off stage he carries the same mannerisms. He’s hopefully and optimistic about life in general, something not usually seen in characters from films about 1960s America.

Some of the best moments in the film come during Llewyn’s drive from New York to Chicago with Goodman and Hedlund. Goodman is a Coen staple appearing in well over a handful of their films. He’s just as loud and boisterous as ever. It’s almost as if the Coens write these roles specifically for him (which they probably do). He’s as memorable as his previous Coen characters like Gale Snoats, Charlie Meadows, Walter Sobchak and Big Dan Teague. Only this time, he clocks very little screen time. I wish he would have had a larger presence in this film, but it’s not his movie. This is all about Llewyn and how he interacts with the people who enter in and out of his life. Roland Turner is just another blip on the overall life of Llewyn Davis.

“Inside Llewyn Davis” might not be the Coen Brothers masterpiece, but it is certainly a fascinating looks at the folk music scene of the early 1960s and the people involved in it right before it became a hugely popular genre of music. To me, the story is meant to be a reflective look on everyone in the audience to see how you may or may stack up next to the ambitions of Llewyn Davis.

He’s not a nice guy, but he’s got a dream. He wants to make that dream come true. He’ll use people, abuse people and step on anyone who gets in his way. Every one of us has a dream. Llewyn’s just chasing after his. What’s so wrong with that? The issue is not what your dream is, but how you go about attaining it. Many people get to where they’re going without being rude. Llewyn doesn’t understand that. In the end, he gets exactly what he deserves: an actual and at the same time metaphorical kick in the gut. This is the appropriate and perfect ending for Llewyn, and the Coens give it to him in a very smart way.

Review: The Great Gatsby

By. Joe Moss 
★ ★

So for more than a year, we have been tantalized by Baz Luhrmann’s seemingly epic version of the F. Scott Fitzgerald masterpiece of American literature “The Great Gatsby.”  A film depicting the excess lifestyle of the roaring 20’s in New York City. A time where money flowed from Wall Street investment firms into the pockets of many an enterprising entrepreneur; much in the manner that the illegal booze flowed from every bootlegging storefront or cellar into many a household. A time where racial divides existed everywhere and women were still considered second class citizens—better to be seen and not heard, or as an accessory to showcase glitz and glam but offer no cerebral pontification during conversation.

  Unfortunately, I have to say that I was supremely disappointed. Yes, the cinematographic elements were there thanks to Simon Duggan (I, Robot), and the costume design was as extravagant as the setting dictated thanks to Baz Luhrmann’s wife (and long-time design collaborator), Oscar winner Catherine Martin (Moulin Rouge); but it was the script from Baz and writing partner Craig Pearce (Moulin Rouge, Romeo & Juliet) that was severely lacking. While the script did hold true to the book for a great majority of the film, much of the film was from the narrative viewpoint rather than through dialogue. This allowed for many long moments of dead-time throughout the movie.  Moments where I found my mind wandering and at times even found myself drifting to the point of daydreaming...on what the film was lacking.

  With the multi Oscar nominated star power cast in the lead roles of the film—3 nominations for Leonardo DiCaprio (Jay Gatsby), Tobey Maguire (Nick Carraway), and 1 nomination for Carey Mulligan (Daisy Buchanan)—I would have much rather there was more time spent on true dialogue to afford the actors the ability to showcase their talent and craft. It almost seemed as though the filmmakers decided that the scenery and the soundtrack were the stars of the film versus the plot itself.  Given what he had to work with, I feel that DiCaprio portrayed Jay Gatsby with true aplomb—conveying much emotion though his dynamic facial expressions. Carey Mulligan’s role as Daisy Buchanan played well to the camera, but her talent as a thespian was not truly showcased rather was barely a hint throughout the film. As well, Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway felt rather contrived and overly sardonic instead of reaching the emotionless state that he is supposed to be suffering as observed through the psychiatrist’s notes at the onset of the film.

  The soundtrack of the film was vivid , boisterous, and often lascivious.  I loved the modern element that it provided the story. From Jay-Z’s “100$ Bill,  Florence + The Machine’s “Over the Love,” to the ever recurring “Young and Beautiful” by Lana Del Rey, the music reminded the moviegoer what English teachers have been saying for years, that “The Great Gatsby” is timeless. The ever present subtext about greed and moral depravity can easily be assimilated into any culture and/or society. Ultimately, while I love the story and the soundtrack, I cannot say that I loved the film. I hold Baz Luhrmann to much higher standards and expect every film to rise to the standard he set for himself with “Moulin Rouge.”

Review: The Great Gatsby

by Trevor Kirkendall
★★½

So you want to adapt one of the most classic and celebrated novels of all time? I wish you the best of luck in that endeavor. There will certainly be resistance from the legions of fans and literary experts that hold the book in such high regard. In director Baz Luhrmann’s case, a straight adaptation of classic literature is out of the question. In order for it to be successful, you would need big stars, and big budget, lots of colors, flashy camera and editing tricks and a soundtrack filled with music not from the era. Oh, and 3D. That’s a must. This is Luhrmann’s recipe for adapting F. Scott Fitzgerald’s American classic “The Great Gatsby.” It’s a risky move, combining those things into a classic like this, one that ultimately pays off very little.

The story is the same story we all know by now, either through required high school reading or from the popular Robert Redford/Mia Farrow version of 1974. Nick Carroway (Tobey Maguire), a New York banker new to the city, tells us the story. He moves next door to a mysterious millionaire everyone knows but no one ever sees. His name is Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio). Gatsby is well known for throwing lavish parties with open invitations to the entire city. On one occasion, Gatsby extends a personal invitation to his new neighbor. Carroway attends, and the two men meet.

They spend a lot of time together, even though Carroway knows very little about him. Gatsby does have a plan in mind, however. He would like Carroway to invite his cousin Daisy (Carey Mulligan) over for tea. Daisy lives across the bay from Gatsby and Carroway with her millionaire husband Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton). Gatsby used to be in love with Daisy and he’d like to win her affection back. It should be easy since Tom is having multiple affairs, his favorite mistress being Myrtle Wilson (Isla Fisher). Wilson’s husband George (Jason Clarke), suspects his wife may be sleeping around, but he’s not sure.

The novel is considered an American classic by many, and is required reading by almost every student. Adapting such a novel is difficult to achieve because people have such high expectations about how the film should look. What director Luhrmann has done here is turned the story into a colorful and vibrant looking film, but its done to utter excess in every aspect.

Luhrmann is well known for his 1996 rendition of “Romeo + Juliet,” which made DiCaprio into a household name. He was rightfully criticized for bringing the story into the modern day but leaving the original Shakespeare dialogue in the old English tongue. The film was a disconnected mess. He then made waves in Hollywood with “Moulin Rouge!” scoring a Best Picture nomination in 2001. This film utilized modern 20^th century music to go along with the 1899 Parisian setting. It was inventive and refreshing to see such a bold move made by a Hollywood studio. People in 1899 certainly didn’t dance the night way to the funky beats of Fatboy Slim.

We’ve come to expect this from Luhrmann by now. So when we see the characters in “The Great Gatsby” dancing around to Jay-Z, its not as refreshing as it was 12 years ago. This worked well for “Moulin Rouge!” but the modern music feels very out of place here. Luhrmann and his writing partner Craig Pearce (whose worked with Luhrmann before on “Romeo,” “Moulin” and Luhrmann’s debut “Strictly Ballroom”) have stayed faithful to the story, which still seems relevant in today’s world. But Luhrmann gets carried away by filling the movie with too much modern flair. If he wanted to make it feel modern, he should have changed the setting to the summer of 2008 maybe, before the economy bottomed out.

“Gatsby” is very colorful and vibrant; no one can fault Luhrmann for that. The film is a gem to look at. The 3D version of the film is very beautiful, one of the better 3D films I’ve seen. The ever-present night sky is always a dark shade of blue, reminiscent of the iconic cover to the book we’ve also seen many times (a very nice touch). This is cinematographer Simon Duggan’s first foray into 3D photography, but it looks like he’s been doing it for years.

The cast is full of talented actors and actresses, but everyone seems to fall well short of their abilities. DiCaprio carries himself as a high-class gentleman in every roll, and occasionally he can really dig into his character to the point where we forget we’re watching the guy who played in that sinking ship movie. Gatsby is not one of those rolls. I imagine this is what DiCaprio is like in real life. He never sells this performance. Frankly, he sleepwalks through.

Carey Mulligan is another talent who listlessly wonders lost through the film. Ever since her Oscar nomination for “An Education” in 2009, she’s played the same roll in every film. The innocent looking, wide eyed girl who always looks like she’s about ten seconds away from running away to her bedroom, or collapsing into a complete nervous breakdown. I guess Daisy is supposed to be a little confused, feeling torn between her lover and her husband, but she plays it more like a hopeless high school girl trying to decided between two different prom invitations.

Everyone in this film over performs, like they’re on stage playing to the last row in giant theater. I guess that’s the way people talked and acted in the Roaring 20’s, but it certainly wasn’t to this extent. Its entertaining at first, but after 140 minutes its worn out its welcome.

I’m sure there will be plenty of people out there who really like “The Great Gatsby.” There are plenty of moments that are very enjoyable, but I can’t get over the amount of excess that’s littered in every single frame. Its definitely a summer film in that respect. Fans of the book could very well welcome its fresh take on this era of American history. For the rest of us, this might just be another one of those flashy films that makes for an enjoyable trip to the movies, but will be thrown out with just about every other summer movie by September.