‎Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) directed by Joel Coen, Ethan Coen • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd

Inside Llewyn Davis

2013 Directed by Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

In Greenwich Village in the early 1960s, gifted but volatile folk musician Llewyn Davis struggles with money, relationships, and his uncertain future following the suicide of his singing partner.

Oscar Isaac Carey Mulligan Justin Timberlake Jerry Grayson Robin Bartlett Max Casella Adam Driver Ethan Phillips Jeanine Serralles Garrett Hedlund John Goodman Stark Sands Alex Karpovsky F. Murray Abraham Benjamin Pike

105 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by DirkH ★★★★★ 28

Glossing over the Coen's filmography confirms my immediate sentiment after finishing Inside Llewyn Davis. I have never been moved by one of their films. That is not what they do. They craft tales that shy the beaten path, fill them with semi-human characters and embrace the style they are working in wholeheartedly.

Inside Llewyn Davis has all the hallmarks of a Coen film. With one trump up its sleeve causing me to allow this film to grip me, shake me and leave me the same way it leaves its protagonist. With a wry smile and an empty heart. That trump is Llewyn Davis and his portayer, Oscar Isaac, who gives one of the best performances of that year.

With the…
Review by Ryan Narc ★★★★★ 14

I'll keep this short (I love how I say it as if all of my reviews are incredibly in-depth and lengthy) since I feel like I'll be passing out from exhaustion at any moment, but finally got around to watching this. I've been looking forward to seeing the Coen Brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis ever since I first heard about it, which is usually how it is for me whenever they have a new film coming out. But this is definitely my favorite film of theirs since No Country For Old Men back in 2007 (not saying that I didn't enjoy everything in-between).

I feel like pretty much everything about it this film is perfect, to me at least. Despite it's…
Review by SilentDawn ★★★★★ 10

97/100

An odyssey through cigarette smoke, carrying a lonely soul from couch to couch and from disappointment to disappointment. Chilly, wintry cinema, packed with typical Coens humor (I could listen to Mulligan rant about condoms for days) but also distanced from the crisp time-period that it's depicting. Like the Coen Brothers have said, there's no need to parody the folk genre as everything is right up there on the screen, but there's still a plethora of swelling comfort and unwelcoming depression to be found, sliding a detailed character study into the aura of a peculiar environment. My favorite Coen Brothers film, and if I had to pick one reason why, I'd point you to the moment where an orange tabby cat experiences the rush of the subway for the first time, following the rapid lights as they strobe into oblivion.
Review by Adam Cook ★★★★ 43

Like many of their protagonists, the Coen brothers make films that aren’t always easy to love. Although a great admirer of the duo and their unique brand of cinema there are only a handful of their films that I truly adore and most of those took more than one viewing to appreciate. As such it might take me a while to decide where Inside Llewyn Davis sits amongst the rest of their work even if its undeniable qualities shine through from its opening moments.

Loosely inspired by a chapter in the life of folk singer, Dave Van Ronk, Inside Llewyn Davis is a melancholic journey through the Greenwich Village folk scene of the early ‘60s following the titular Llewyn Davis,…
Review by Brendan ★★★★★ 18

10/10
"I'm tired. I thought I just needed a night's sleep but it's more than that."

I get sad. I know this isn't big news. Everyone gets sad. But I feel as if people don't like really like to talk about negative emotions unless it's anger, frustration, or disgust. Everybody always talks about keeping things positive. But sometimes, you need to talk about being sad. I feel as if people who have a platform or a good amount of followers need to express this as a way to make others not feel alone. So here I go.

I get very sad. I sometimes feel bad about myself, how I look, how others look at me, how others talk about me,…
Review by Matt Singer ★★★★★ 6

"Llewyn is the cat."

Even richer on second viewing. I feel you could watch this movie 100 times and not reach bottom. I laughed more, and I was moved more, and one performance choked me up more.

Someone needs to do a video essay putting the opening and closing scenes side by side, comparing and contrasting each shot and line reading, and examining what's changed and what stays the same, and why.

Recent reviews

Review by Eric Gehler ★★★★★

If it's never new and it never gets old, it's probably a folk song.

I'm loving me some coen brothers
Review by Scott Bannick ★★★★★

I'm pretty sure this movie is in my Top 50 of all time now. Just a wonderful Coens movie, and I apologise if I end up singing along with it while watching it with you. (I won't watch it with you)
Review by harshini 🌹 ★★★★

I'm tired. I thought I just needed a night's sleep but it's more than that.

Too damn real. Funny and so heartbreaking. The Coen brothers are just brilliant.
Review by Peter Escott ★★★★½

I'm trying to be a writer. I sleep on peoples couches.

This is too real.
Review by Luke ★★★★★

I forgot how funny and sad this movie was. Damn the Coen brothers are geniuses.
Review by Jo ★½ 1

I guess you have to be an introvert to appreciate this movie, because I honestly don't understand it.
Well I understand why Llewyn is pissed all the time, I would be pissed too if everybody around me was either a retard a freak or an asshole and nobody would talk like an actual person.
Review by LinktoPast ★★★★½

This movie never get's old.
Review by Josh🐦 ★★★★½

don't get me wrong I love this film so much but if I see any more fucking gif sets of that "I'm tired. I'm so fucking tired." scene I'm legitimately going to kill myself
Review by Noelle_ ★★★★★

Llewyn is the cat.