Matthew Schulte ’15 | Staff Writer

Although it contains a superb soundtrack and is expertly shot, Directors, Joel and Ethan Coen, have hit a bad note with their latest film, “Inside Llewyn Davis.”

As always, the Coen Brothers have concocted a film with excellent visuals, as they employed the very talented cinematographer, Bruno Delbonnel to shoot for them. Delbonnel, who is known for his gloomy and inky style, has conducted the cinematography for films such as “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” “Faust,” and “Dark Shadows.” Like his previous films, “Inside Llewyn Davis” is shot in his signature style, dark and crisp.

  In regards to conveying the hardships that struggling musicians face, “Inside Llewyn Davis” does an excellent job. Although only showing a snippet of the life of Llewyn Davis, portrayed by Oscar Isaac, the film seems to last an eternity and is painful to endure because of Davis’ poor quality of living.

Since the film focused primarily on  one’s suffering in the music industry, a melancholy soundtrack was a must; “Inside Llewyn Davis” delivered just that. Each of the songs played in the film told a story its own and accurately described the way Davis felt at a specific moment.

Acting was also a quality that thrived in the film. Isaac was the perfect fit to play a character such as Davis. Every single one of his lines and live performances felt genuine; in a sense, rather than acting as Davis, Isaac became Davis.

However, Isaac was not the only one with successful acting, Justin Timberlake also gave the performance of his life, as Jim Berkey, a hardworking musician who is slowly finding mainstream fame. At first, I thought Timberlake’s star power would overshadow the rest of the cast; I was dead wrong. Throughout the film, Timberlake stayed humble and even contributed to one of the most memorable scenes in the film, the recording of pop song, “Please Mr. Kennedy,” along with Isaac and Adam Driver as Al Cody.

With all these great ingredients, it seems like it would be hard for one to dislike “Inside Llewyn Davis;” however the storyline is repulsive at times..Throughout the film, Davis’ already poor living and economic situations become worse and worse, so about half way through, the film became predictable.  It also felt like I was being beaten down along with Davis, which was not enjoyable because the film is listless and purposeless. .

Also, the ending is incredibly open ended.. Therefore, I could not determine what the film’s overall purpose was and left the theater knowing as much about Davis as I did coming in.

Next is the Davis’ character. Davis is nothing but a horrible person, as he gets married women pregnant, runs over cats, breaks into apartments and is a chronic moocher. The film was supposed to make me feel sorry for Davis, however I thought he deserved every trifle he got.

Although extremely immersive and beautifully shot, the character that is, Llewyn Davis and poor storyline completely ruin the all of the enjoyable technical aspects of “Inside Llewyn Davis.”

Grade: C