It looks like the Coen Brothers have been seemingly inactive. The last movie they made, True Grit, came out more than two years ago in December 2010. But have the Coen Brothers been as inactive as they seem? In a Tarantino-esque gap between releases, cinema’s legendary writer/producer/director brothers team behind Fargo, who have conquered many very different stories and genres, some coming out as classics, some resulting as pretty good movies, and some ending up as stinkers, have a new project in the works. Their new movie, which has an independent feel to it, is called Inside Llewyn Davis.
Inside Llewyn Davis (which began filming in New York City in February of 2012) has many positive things going for it such as a great cast comprised of Oscar Isaac (Robin Hood, 10 Years, and Drive) as the title character, Llewyn Davis. The supporting cast is made up of bigger names such as Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake (who recently returned to music), Garrett Hedlund, F. Murray Abraham, Adam Driver (Girls), Alex Karpovsky (Girls), and it wouldn’t be a Coen brother’s movie without John Goodman (who had a successful year in 2012 with films like Trouble With The Curve, Argo, and Flight). The plot follows the unlucky Llewyn Davis, who is inspired by the legendary NYC folk singer Dave Van Ronk, as he maneuvers his way through the New York City’s Greenwich Village folk music scene in the 60’s with only his guitar and an orange tabby cat that doesn’t belong to him.
Not much is known about who plays which character, but the very newly released trailer points out what types of characters the actors will play. But it is known that Carey Mulligan and Justin Timberlake play a married couple. From the trailer, it looks like Jean Berkey (Carey Mulligan) seems to know Llewyn and that Jim (Justin Timberlake) and Jean are fellow folk musicians. Timberlake looks like he is getting his 60’s vibe on his brief appearance in the trailer. John Goodman looks like he could be playing a sarcastic, music industry big shot (It wouldn’t be the first time he played a role like that). Garrett Hedlund looks as if he plays a vehicle-bound bad boy/loner (That also wouldn’t be the first time). F. Murray Abraham seems as stern as ever in a role that looks like a manager of a some sort of music joint.
If you were expecting a comical departure from No Country for Old Men and True Grit, it looks like you have found the wrong movie. Inside Llewyn Davis trailer is melancholy with a bit of quirk, filled with drained colors, a sad Bob Dylan song, and some pretty rough, explicit words used against Llewyn by Jean. This movie looks like it is going to be a sad, tear-jerking, mature, odd, and interesting take on the 60’s musical scene. The trailer raises many questions such as, “How did Llewyn end up with that cat from the beginning of the trailer?” “Why does Jean seem to hate Llewyn so much?” “What role will Garrett Hedlund’s character play in the film’s events?” “Why does Llewyn take his guitar and the cat everywhere?” and with the most curious: “What is John Goodman doing on the floor unconscious with foam coming out of his mouth?” But all in due time, these questions will be answered.
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This movie looks like it could be great, and the oddity of the Coens making a movie with a plot like this adds to the anticipation because many unusual and out-of-character movie choices that have been made by the Coens have ended up being their bests and most celebrated, such as No Country for Old Men, True Grit, Barton Fink, A Serious Man, and of course the cult favorite, The Big Lebowski.
One big question looms over this project. That question is the release date. Many website and sources state conflicting dates. Coming Soon.net and Wikipedia say that the movie has no release date announced yet. IMBD recently stated that it will come out in December of this year. Indiewire says it will have industry screenings this month, and then it might go on to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. The most peculiar release date that has been given out by some reliable websites, such movieweb.com, heavy.com and movietickets.com (earlier this week), is February 8th, 2013. This would be strange, because the MPAA R rating it got, its first trailer, and its teaser poster came out not even a week ago. The fact that it just got a trailer and a rating already suggests that it is coming closer to a release in cinemas than December. It seems unlikely that it will be released in two weeks because it has too little information surrounding it for a release that close, but we probably won’t have to wait all the way to December for it.
Release date aside, the Coen Brothers’ new movie looks like it could be a great new addition to their pallet of films, and it looks like it could be Oscar Isaac’s breakout performance, a breakaway from comedies for Justin Timberlake, one of Garrett Hedlund’s new roles in his growing popularity, and another thing for Carey Mulligan to show her talent in.
What do you think about the Coen’s new movie. Intrigued or not?
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Watch the trailer here:
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