CBS Films

R 105 min

So it is always a decent bet that whatever Joel and Ethan Coen come up with will be getting some kind of Oscar attention.

I've noticed that there latest film (And others) INSIDE LLEWIN DAVIS has been showing in limited release for a while now. By the way again a shout out and big thank you to the guys at the Valleyview Cinemark who have the stones to run something a little bit off the beaten path. Too bad that Cinemark App doesn’t work but what the hell, it’s a nice theater and the popcorn is good.

The beauty and the genius of the Coen brothers is that like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates or the next Elvis Costello CD you never know what you are going to get. And nearly everything they do is brilliant. In a way INSIDE LLEWIN DAVIS resists categorization. Yes it's somewhat biographical yet only a few pages from a biography. It’s a glimpse at a short span of the protagonists life. Yes it’s comedic at times but not the over the top humor they used in RAISING ARIZONA. It's also a look inside a portion of the music industry that most of us haven't thought of, with the seminal era of the pre-Beatles folk music scene of the very early 60's.

Neither is it a tragedy even though the film deals with a series of disappointing episodes.

Compellingly played by Oscar Isaac Llewin Davis is a folk singer based in Greenwich Village in the beginning of the 1960s. He has been a part of a duo that had a minor measure of success but no longer exists. Striving to eke out some sort of a living as a solo entertainer (and striving to hold onto his self-image of a tortured artist) he's often forced to swallow his pride. For example he sleeps on various couches in the apartments of folks he has not yet offended too badly. He makes a few dollars as a session guitarist on an embarrassing novelty song and decides to head to Chicago to audition for a folk music impresario who has taken a liking to much less worthy (in Davis’ opinion) acts.

And there are, of course, some quirky characters along the route.

It’s a story that every prideful artist actor musician or craftsman should find at least some truth in. The reprise ending brings that realization full circle.

I won’t tell you though……

WSS

A-

(ps I’d have given it an A but for the cat…..we can discuss it after you see it)