CAPTIVE STATE

John Goodman     Vera Farmiga     Ashton Sanders     Jonathan Majors

     Writer/director Rupert Wyatt and his co-writer Erica Beeney have boasting rights for a movie that leaves the audience mystified until the very end.  In the meantime, viewers sit and wonder what the h--- is going on and try to figure out who the characters are. This takes place on a darkened screen where much of the action is hidden, just like the characters. By the time it starts to become clear—as one viewer observed—you’ve become disengaged and have little investment in the outcome.  There’s a major twist after the fog, but it’s too little too late to be exciting or satisfying.

     The beginning scenes and text inform the viewer that Chicago has been taken over by aliens and that everyone has an identity chip and is followed constantly by cameras with monitors behind them.  

     We see more of John Goodman in the Chicago police station as a district commander than anyone else.  He clearly has an investment in Gabriel (Sanders), the son of his deceased partner, but this kid doesn’t want to have anything to do with him.  Gabriel and his older brother Rafe (Majors) have had a hard time after their father’s death, but clearly don’t see the commander as any kind of mentor.  The commander has been studying and following events closely for nine years since the invasion, and he is convinced that something major is about to happen. No one seems to take him seriously, including his supervisor, who sees him as a little crazy.  

     Another thing we see is a group of characters who have united together with plans to escape (to where, we’re not told). Much of the story involves their various ruses to become anonymous and get out of Dodge...Chicago.  They’re seen as insurrectionists by the police, who have been cooperating with the aliens in a compromised position.

This leads up to the twist, which I will not reveal.  

     I generally admire John Goodman’s performances, which are almost invariably excellent; but in Captive State, the script shows him to be something of a gumshoe, uninteresting and run-of-the-mill. He sometimes seems to have a conscience, sometimes not; and to genuinely care, sometimes not.  So as the lead actor, it’s not easy to get behind him and cheer him on.  Vera Farmiga is wonderfully mysterious—as she is supposed to be—making enigmatic pronouncements that are worth paying attention to.  Ashton Sanders (Moonlight) is a young actor to pay close attention to; he captures all the nuances shown by a young man being pulled in different directions and learning about the paradoxes of life.  These performances are about the only aspect of the movie to savor; otherwise, there is not much. 

     Captive State had potential for being a provocative, currently relevant story; however, the execution failed to deliver, mostly by keeping the audience confused and in the dark most of the time.

If you want sci-fi, you won’t get it here.  If you want thriller, it comes too late for you to care.

Grade:  D+                                    By Donna R. Copeland

VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS

Dane DeHaan     Cara Delevingne     Clive Owen     Ethan Hawke     Rihanna    
Herbie Hancock     Sam Spruell     Voices of:  John Goodman   Elizabeth Debicki

       Valerian (DeHaan) is obnoxious as he can be, but I enjoyed the rest of the cast in the movie, the story, and the special effects.  I’m curious about why Valerian is made to be heroic and still be so obtuse.  Does this come from the comics on which it is based or from Besson’s screenwriting?  Valerian’s fellow agent Laureline (DeLevigne) is sharp, emotionally attuned, and a real fighter when she needs to be.  The film should have been named “Laureline Saves an Agent and a Planet.”  Or at least “Valerian and Laureline”, as the comics are titled.

     At any rate, this very expensive indie film must have invested large sums for the portrayal of exotic creatures, Olivier Bériot’s costumes, Hugues Tissandier’s production design, and all the efforts and equipment involved in special effects; an investment well worth it in my opinion.  If the viewer just “goes with it” and suspends reality, it is an otherworld experience with exotic creatures, harrowing light-speed flights through space and falls to the depths of unknown places.  My favorite creatures are the willowy, iridescent Pearls, who are gentle, gentile, and smart enough to acquire knowledge of science and mathematics, and anything else they need to know to reconstruct their planet, which has been destroyed by an ignorant military force.  The pearls—ejected by “converters”—are life sustaining for the people of Mül, and they treat them respectfully. 

      Pearls in the film are metaphors for that which is of value, like the earth and nature.  “We give to the earth what the sea grants to us”, the Mül people say about their recycling, as they deposit pearls into the water.  In keeping with the film’s central message, we find out what happened to the Mül planet, and the ignorance on which the attack was based (e.g., “primitive” civilizations are not as important as ours—a la the current day message, “America First”). 

     Valerian and Laureline are charged with finding and recovering the universally coveted converter belonging to the people of Mül, called the Pearls, which went missing when they were attacked. The converter, which looks like an adorable animal, makes copies of anything it ingests and ejects the copies in endless amounts.  The Pearls give it pearls because they’re essential for their survival.  Others covet the converter for their own nefarious purposes.  The assignment to retrieve the converter takes the two agents through numerous venues—other planets, U.S. military space stations, a colorful “Big Market”, and even a fancy brothel.  Their paths cross those of Commander Filitta (Owen) and General Okto-Bar (Spruell), a Jabba the Hutt kind of character (Goodman), the pimp Jolly (Hawke), and an exotic dancer Bubble (Rihanna).  In the process of carrying out their assignment, the two agents survive life-threatening situations, but eventually uncover the mystery of what happened to the planet Mül.

     Director Luc Besson (Nikita, Lucy, The Fifth Element) wrote the screenplay, based on a French comics series, and although he successfully attempted to recreate some of the Star Wars elements, the dialog lacks the sharpness and creativity of the visuals.  Better editing could have omitted a number of scenes that are extraneous and shorten a 2½ hour film.  DeHaan is miscast as a heroic character, and he comes across as braggadocios and self-centered.  The rest of the cast are highly entertaining, particularly Delevingne, Owen, Hawke, Goodman, and Debicki.  Rihanna’s exotic, shape-shifting dance and song act is a highlight. 

Besson’s adventure is a wild tour of other worlds in time and space.

Grade:  B                                    By Donna R. Copeland

ATOMIC BLONDE

Charlize Theron     James McAvoy     Sofia Boutella      John Goodman     Toby Jones     Eddie Marsan

            Atomic Blonde—an intentional play on the name James Bond—is a spy thriller that takes place toward the end of the Cold War, just before the Berlin Wall is torn down.  But British MI6, with Gray (Jones) in charge has one last puzzle to solve.  One of the MI6 officers had obtained a vital list of double agents who were being smuggled into the west, but he is killed, and no list is found on his body or his belongings.  The CIA (Goodman) is called in to help evaluate the situation by questioning British agent Lorraine Broughton (Theron) who was sent in to locate the list.  The Berlin contact she is to collaborate with is David Percival (McAvoy), the established, well-respected British ambassador in West Berlin.  The film is her account of what happened.  She comes in with black eyes and bruises and scrapes all over her body.

            Lorraine is irritated from the get-go, when she is not met at the airport by Percival.  Instead, she is whisked off by some Russians pretending to be British.  The Bond-like blonde immediately grasps what is transpiring and makes quick work of the thugs that involves harrowing combat in a speeding car.  This is just the opening.  Many more astounding feats will follow.

            The bottom line of the movie is the advice Lorraine is given by the experienced Percival at the beginning of her sojourn in Berlin:  Trust no one.  She begins to investigate, starting with the dead agent’s apartment and sleuthing out what the Russians knew of her assignment.  In the process, she encounters a mysterious female French agent (Boutella) whose role is only determined across time.

            David Leitch (stunts for V for Vendetta, 300, and Mr. & Mrs. Smith; producer, John Wick) has directed a thrilling story written by Kurt Johnstad, which was based on a graphic novel series written by Antony Johnston and Sam Hart.  The story is suspenseful, thrilling, and even a little humorous, and the fight scenes are well choreographed—presumably reflecting Leitch’s stunt experience.              

           Theron kicks a--, clearly matching her male predecessors’ acumen and sex appeal.  Women will cheer her role as a major breakthrough for female actors.  I found her fighting skills shown to be far beyond that of even well trained women athletes, but that is often true of male actors in this genre as well.  Most audiences seem to like that fantasy, despite its hyperbole.  McAvoy and Goodman show their fine talent in playing ambiguous characters who must be discovered across time.  Sultry Algerian born French actress Sofia Boutella (Kingsman:  The Secret Service, Star Trek Beyond) is becoming known to American audiences, and clearly displays her talent in this film, where her character is thought to be “beyond her depth”, but ends up providing critical information.

            Audiences who are drawn to action spy thrillers are likely to relish Atomic Blonde and cheer on the move toward making more women action heroes.

If you’re wishing for a female James Bond, you will love this film.

Grade:  B                                    By Donna R. Copeland

KONG: SKULL ISLAND

Tom Hiddleston   Samuel L. Jackson   Brie Larson   John C. Reilly   John Goodman   Richard Jenkins   Corey Hawkins

       This movie begs the question of why it was made at all.  The story of King Kong has appeared in various media since 1933, when the original film King Kong appeared.  In addition to remakes in 1970 and 2005, there have been countless take-offs of some kind or other ever since.  This tale is not much different from most—a feared, gigantic monster turns out to have a heart after all.  Perhaps it is related to the age-old mythological theme of something that we have feared turns out to be something we treasure.  At any rate, the film also shows very clearly the destructiveness of invading lands that belong to others without even learning something about them before blustering in with guns a-blazing.  This part of the film really hurts those of us who don’t feel entitled to have full rein on the rest of the world.

      Kong casts aspersions on science in the form of Bill Randa (Goodman) who has learned of a hitherto unexplored island in the south Pacific where whole ships and their crew have disappeared.  Now, he presents his proposal for a scientific expedition to his Congressman (Jenkins) who “owes” him.  He sells it with the potential of discovering geological and other information that scientists know nothing about.  In truth, his motives are not so pristine.

       He is granted the funds to go, with—oh, by the way—a military escort.  The war is just ending in Viet Nam, and one character at least, Packard (Jackson), is wondering what on earth he is going to do without a war.  He is only too happy to lead the military escort.  “Thank you”, he says at the end of the phone conversation engaging him in a rather dangerous mission.  He has more than enough hubris to be confident he can take on anything.  The team does have the foresight to recruit an experienced tracker in the wild, James Conrad (Hiddleston), who should be able to get them out of threatening situations.  Because the movie needs a woman, a wartime photographer, [cleverly misleading name of Mason Weaver (Larson)] has applied and is given permission to go along.

       Of course, you know they encounter Kong, King of Skull Island, now 328 feet tall, who snatches helicopters out of the air like they were toys.  But note that this is after the “scientists” have dropped bombs into the terrain to ascertain its makeup.  Not only does this bring out Kong, who is trying to protect his island, but other much more sinister creatures.

Cinematography (Larry Fong) and special effects are impressive, but scenes of fighting with the monsters go on far too long, with too many characters rapidly flitting on and off the screen to keep track of.   Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts and editor Richard Pearson could have easily trimmed the two-hour production and/or focused on more character development.  Back-stories of the main characters would help us care more about them and understand their motivations for what they do.

       We do get that for John C. Reilly, a consummate actor for oddball characters.  His story is interesting and (mostly) plausible, and the way he relates to the native humans and animals is interesting as well as admirable.  The roles of Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hiddleston, and Brie Larson are familiar and ones they do very well.  Jackson is a hardheaded military man with a black-and-white view of the world and people.  Hiddleston is a quiet, modest hero with considerable clout.  Larson acts bravely and speaks out for a feminine point of view in a testosterone-laden story.

If you never tire of the oft-repeated King Kong story, then this one is for you.

Grade:  C-                                    By Donna R. Copeland

PATRIOTS DAY

Mark Wahlberg     J. K. Simmons     Kevin Bacon     John Goodman     Michelle Monaghan     

Jimmy O. Yang     Alex Wolff     Themo Melikidze

       A dramatic account of the 2013 bombings at the Boston Marathon refreshes our memory of what happened that day and the investigations to find the perpetrators that followed.  It’s fascinating and informative to see how the rescue and investigation proceeded, and how quickly the suspects were identified with security cameras.  With that information in hand, a police officer knowledgeable about the area knew where to look for them.  There was disagreement initially among the FBI and city/county/state officials about when to release the names, but as soon as they did, they began to get leads.  (The FBI preferred to withhold the names so as not to tip off the bombers and allow them to escape.)

        The film gives us glimpses of some people’s lives beforehand, such as Sgt. Tommy Saunders (Wahlberg) who had been temporarily suspended from the force, some of the victims, and the Tsarnaev brothers, the bombers.  This helps make the shock more real and important to us, and gives us a glimpse into how private lives are affected (tragically, sometimes) by civic duties.  The most dramatic of these is when the Tsarnaevs on the run hijack a car driven by a student (Yang) whom we’ve been introduced to earlier as a son talking to his family in China and to his friends.  Dzhokhar (Wolff) and Tamerian (Melikidze) Tsarnaev are shown to be bumbling and argumentative in their execution of the terror and their attempts to get away.  In the aftermath of the explosions, it’s eerie to see them at home watching TV reports of their work, and Tamerian sending Dzhokhar to the store on an errand.

       Peter Berg, the director, moves the story along, with frequent cuts—sometimes so frequent it makes you dizzy—but covering the scope of the massive event well, including preparations for the race and some of the back stories, law enforcement during the race, the bombings and chaos that followed, the rescue, and finally the investigation and pursuit of the criminals.  There is an especially interesting interrogation of the older Tsarnaev’s wife by the FBI.  It did not produce much information, but showed the FBI’s expertise in connecting with someone to elicit information.

          No one character really stands out, although Sgt. Saunders seems to turn up at every important event.  Wahlberg’s performance is not as outstanding as in some of his previous work, although it is adequate, and it could be that the writers/director wanted a lower key persona for this role.  Experienced actors in supportive roles that measure up to their reputations include J. K. Simmons, Kevin Bacon, John Goodman, Alex Wolff, and Michelle Monaghan.  Relative newcomer Themo Melikidze playing the older Tsarnaev is entirely convincing.

A reminder of the fateful day in 2013 when two brothers wreaked havoc in Boston during the marathon.

Grade:  B                                    By Donna R. Copeland

RATCHET & CLANK

Voices of:  James Arnold Taylor   David Kaye   Jim Ward   Rosario Dawson  

Paul Giamatti   Armin Shimeman   John Goodman   Sylvester Stallone

          Ratchet and Clank are two entertaining characters in this beautifully animated movie based on a videogame—not usually one of my favorite activities.  But this one has some good messages for children having to do with loyalty, hubris, and ambition.  Betrayal, vainglorious boasting, and impulsivity are boldly displayed and then shown to be mistakes, and it becomes clear how one becomes a true hero.

          Ratchet (Taylor) is the only one of his kind (his planet was destroyed and he is the only survivor), called a “lombax”, and embodies classic ADHD qualities—attention deficit and impulsivity.  He is brave, and despite his small size, longs to be a ranger like Quark (Ward), captain of the Galactic Rangers.  Ratchet shows that sometimes it’s possible to achieve great feats with enough grit and determination, but other times it is simply risky behavior.  He’s a good model for children with ADHD, because he pulls it all together in the end.

          Suddenly, Clank (Kaye), a robot, appears in Ratchet’s world, and the two become a working pair, realizing that there is a dangerous weapon set up and already in motion to destroy whole planets.  This “Planet Destroyer” is commanded by Drek (Diamatti), and is the brainchild of Dr. Nefarious (Shimeman). 

          The games about Ratchet and Clank are known for the fancy, exotic weapons, which are explained in detail and demonstrated in rapid succession in the movie, including the one that pixilates a man into a sheep.  Viewers fascinated with weapons will be caught up in the excitement of them.

          The story is a familiar one about evil men with inordinate greed and lust for power and control.  Here, it’s taken to a galactic level, with some coming off as surprising heroes and some being brought to their knees.  In the process, some learn a valuable lesson:  “To be a hero you don’t have to do big things; just the right ones.”

The graphic animation and CGI effects are colorful and impressive, and the voices of Taylor, Kaye are excellently rendered; those of Giamatti, Goodman, and Stallone—whose voices are usually highly recognizable—are disguised enough to make them sound different from their usual. 

       I would think the film is not for very young children, although those who play videogames may easily follow it.  Most likely children ten+ years will enjoy it.  Save your money; the extra for 3-D is probably not worth it.

Surprisingly good entertainment based on a videogame. 

Grade:  B                              By Donna R. Copeland

10 CLOVERFIELD LANE

Mary Elizabeth Winstead     John Goodman     John Gallagher Jr.

            Michelle (Winstead) is in turmoil, clumsily packing her bags through her tears.  She heads out of her apartment, leaving her rings on the floor, and gets in her car.  It’s late in the day, and just after the sun sets, she stops to get gas, keeping alert, and noticing that someone is in the car next to her.  She hastily concludes the chore and gets on the road again.  Then a terrible accident occurs.

            When Michelle regains consciousness, she is in a strange room (not a hospital) with an IV in her arm and a locked brace around her right knee.  Her belongings are across the room, but she cannot reach them until she has a bright idea and manages to pull her phone over.  Alas, however, there is no signal.  Presently, a very large man named Howard (Goodman) unlocks the bolted door and enters.  She is terrified and thoroughly flummoxed, but he explains that he has just saved her after her accident, brought her to a safe place and given her medical attention.  Furthermore, he says, there has been a major attack and it’s not safe to go outside.  He had anticipated the attack and built this bunker and supplied it with provisions that will last a long while.

            The mystery builds as Michelle discovers there is someone else in the bunker, Emmett (Gallagher), a young man who has known Howard as a friend and neighbor for many years.  He had helped to build the shelter, and eventually asked Howard if he could move in.  Emmett is a simple man—better at racing in high school than making grades—and he opted to stay near his home rather than go to college.

            Howard has a strangeness about him, and Michelle never comes to trust him.  As time goes on, she and Emmett discover bits of disturbing information, and Michelle never becomes convinced that any attack on the U.S. has taken place.  The intrigue continues with scene after scary scene, plots, and surreptitious peeks outdoors.  This is the best part of the film, when the viewer is pulled in, and for a long time not quite being able to determine who Howard is and what his intentions are.  He provides food and entertainment, and shows cleverness in devising an air purification system, for example.  But he is suspicious, controlling, and has a hot temper.

            Winstead and Goodman are at their best in reacting to one another with a range of emotions and encounters.  And Gallagher is good as well in being a follower ready to do someone else’s bidding. 

            Director Dan Trachtenberg has been involved in filmmaking for some time, but this is only his third time directing a feature, and I think he can be proud of this.  I imagine that having J. J. Abrams as one of the producers helps, but his work with the actors, the musician Bear McCeary, cinematographer Jeff Cutter, and the rest of the team shows he has the ability to coordinate and integrate all the components of filmmaking while revving up the suspense.

A fine thriller that prolongs the suspense, with a surprising twist at the end.

Grade:  A-                                    By Donna R. Copeland

TRUMBO

Bryan Cranston   Diane Lane   Helen Mirren   Louis C.K.   John Goodman   Elle Fanning

          Dalton Trumbo was a very successful Hollywood screenwriter in the late 1940’s when he was called to answer questions about his beliefs by the U.S. House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).  He refused to testify, so was sent to prison for 11 months for Contempt of Congress.  He and many others were put on a Black List by the movie studios, which refused to hire them, denying them any means of support. 

         The film Trumbo dramatizes these events with major actors in the roles of the principal players.  Bryan Cranston plays Trumbo in another one of his remarkable performances.  He truly can melt himself into a character so well you forget him, the actor.  Diane Lane plays his wife Cleo—capturing the near-saint that Cleo must have been, while easily asserting herself forcefully when she perceived a wrong.  Helen Mirren plays Hedda Hopper, an apparently conniving, devious zealot with incredible power given her occupation, a gossip columnist.  In her younger days, she was an actress and still seethes about being rejected as “too old”, but is still able to threaten studio executives with exposure of their weaknesses unless they go along with her political stance, i.e., supporting the HUAC. 

       Louis C.K. is turning out to be a gifted actor; he plays Arlen Hird, one of Trumbo’s reluctant screenwriter colleagues also called to testify.  Trumbo pulls him along by convincing him that even if they’re convicted, the case will go to a liberal Supreme Court that will defend their right of free speech, and he pays for Hird’s attorney fees.  (In a stroke of bad luck, one of the Supreme Court liberal judges dies unexpectedly, so they lose their appeal.) 

        Another star always up to his reputation is John Goodman, who plays Frank King, a Hollywood producer who just wants to churn out box office successes.  He doesn’t give a flip about political issues, so has no problem paying Trumbo to rework the terrible scripts he is given.  This is what saves Trumbo financially, and as amazing as he is in turning out scripts in record time, he has so much work he can’t do it all.  He hires his fellow blacklisted writers to help him, and thereby they survive. 

       Trumbo is an extraordinary film in showing us an important “happening” in American history, in having well known actors playing major figures (which blows your mind a little bit), and more importantly, reminding us of how critical it is for Americans to have free speech to sustain our democracy.

        Director Jay Roach is known primarily for comedies (Meet the Parents, Austin Powers), but I think he does a good job in presenting this bruising history of Hollywood and America.  It is more liberal in its presentation, but an important speech by Dalton Trumbo gives the import of the movie’s message: There was bad faith and good, honesty and dishonesty, courage and cowardice, selflessness and opportunism, wisdom and stupidity, good and bad on both sides; and almost every individual involved, no matter where he stood, combined some or all of these antithetical qualities in his own person, in his own acts (Cieply, Michael (September 11, 2007). "A Voice From the Blacklist: Documentary Lets Dalton Trumbo Speak (Through Surrogates)". New York Times. Retrieved December 15, 2011.) 

An instructive piece of American history dramatized.

Grade:  B                                 By Donna R. Copeland

LOVE THE COOPERS

Alan Arkin   Diane Keaton   John Goodman   Marisa Tomei   June Squibb

                                        Olivia Wilde   Amanda Seyfried   Anthony Mackie   Ed Helms   Jake Lacy

          And you probably will end up loving the Coopers in a film that many will see as a perfect holiday movie.  Although don’t expect to be immersed in warm fuzzy feelings throughout; this is a family that can throw barbs and “gotchas” with hardly a twitch of an eyebrow.  They all seem to have some gene that eventually and invariably alienates the person they’re talking to.  The script reads a bit like Little Miss Sunshine in its mixture of bittersweet, tender, and outright comedy.  The difference is that in Love the Coopers there’s a lot more bitterness in tone, especially in the beginning when everyone seems to be writhing with unhappiness—or maybe it’s just anxiety about the upcoming get-together.

         The drama mainly centers around couples—not necessarily the expected pairings.  The paterfamilias (Arkin) is alone in his old age, but has made a solid friendship with a young waitress at the local diner (Seyfried).  His daughter Charlotte (Keaton) has been married to Sam (Goodman) for 40 years, but it looks like the parting of the ways for them.  Their current issue is whether or not to announce their separation at the family celebration.  Son Hank (Helms) is going through a divorce, and he is not in good shape at all.  His other daughter Emma (Tomei) is alone not by choice, except maybe it has something to do with her not being able to form a bond with anyone and tending to feel sorry for herself in being alone.  We’re introduced to Charlotte’s and Sam’s daughter Eleanor (Wilde) in the airport where she has bumped into Joe (Lacy) who is headed out to report to duty.  Present at the Christmas celebration are also a number of grandchildren who are as quick-witted and verbal as their elders.

          Certain interchanges between characters in the drama really entertained and sparked my interest.  One was Eleanor and Joe doing a complex, often contradictory, mating dance that epitomizes budding relationships today.  Liberal meets conservative, but somehow, after many fits and starts, they find more common ground than conflict.  Another was that between Emma and the policeman (Anthony Mackie) who arrests her for shoplifting.  Being a life coach, she starts out asking him about himself, but when it ends up, he is giving her valuable advice.  They end up helping each other, and he is to be admired for insisting on appropriate boundaries. 

        The depiction of Sam’s and Charlotte’s relationship is not terribly interesting—it’s rather hackneyed—and although these are fine actors, I found myself yawning and fidgeting during their interchanges.  The best ones (Eleanor and Joe; Emma and Officer Williams) entertain us and make us think, and therein lies the best of this movie.

A soulful family Christmas with meaningful observations on mating.

Grade:  B                                                            By Donna R. Copeland

INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS

Oscar Isaac     Carey Mulligan     Justin Timberlake     Adam Driver     John Goodman

     Inside Llewyn Davis reminds me a bit of Burn after Reading, also by the Coen brothers, in which there is little about the main characters to sympathize with.  In the earlier film, there is more humor, which softens the impact, but there is little humor in the former.  Rather than humor, Davis’ music is the softening agent to his abrasive personality.  Davis’ lack of social graces or even a smidgen of empathy for others is self-destructive, and thwarts his drive to become an employed, popular artist.  The Coens created this character to tell a story about “real songs by made-up people”, according to Oscar Isaac, who plays the title role, and T-Bone Burnet, the music producer and composer, in a Q&A session after the screening of the film at the Austin Film Festival.

     Llewyn Davis is a struggling folk singer in Greenwich Village in New York in the early sixties.  He has become homeless, and must borrow sofas for the night among his few friends—who are remarkable in their forgiveness of his obnoxious behavior in their homes.  One is a former lover (Carey Mulligan) who lives with her husband (Justin Timberlake) and is furious with him for good reason (a very different role for Mulligan, which she aces).  Another is a music professor and his wife with a lovely cat, which, in Coen playfulness, holds its own as a star at times.  Davis has no apprehension in the least about asking friends he has just met at these friends’ homes to sleep on their couch from time to time.

     A relief from these trying moments comes when Davis picks up his guitar.  The music is the complete opposite of his personality—soulful, creative, vibrant—which is a curious juxtaposition.  Nor surprisingly, the imminently prolific, award-winning T-Bone Barnet is responsible for the success of the music, many of which are classics based on Dave van Ronk’s renditions, such as “Hang Me, Oh Hang Me”, and “Dink’s Song – Fare Thee Well”, and one of which he composed (“Please Mr. Kennedy”).   Apparently, the whole film is loosely—very loosely—based on Van Ronk’s memoir.

     Another significant part of the success of the music is Oscar Isaac’s performances.  Because the Coen brothers wanted the film to be similar to a documentary, Isaac spent long hours before filming, perfecting his sound to be as close to Van Ronk’s as possible.  He was required to perform each song during a single take to give it the documentary quality.  In addition, his portrayal of the character during the entire film is remarkably good.

The music is really what saves this film from complete despair.  There are moments intended to be funny, such as the John Goodman role, or a countrywoman singer with a dulcimer, or Davis’ interactions with the cat, but I found them more pathetic than humorous.  Others may find them genuinely funny, however.

I am a huge Coen brothers fan, and although Inside Llewyn Davis is not quite to my taste, the music and acting are most impressive.

                                               

A story about real songs by made-up people.

Grade:  B                                    By Donna R. Copeland