Saw this at a pre-screening tonight.
This is a very well crafted film, if a little hard to describe. The film follows its folk musician protagonist as he struggles to get by. Llewyn is one of those characters that is his own worst enemy. He might be able to pull himself out of struggle if he simply allowed himself to, if he didn't actually like the difficulties, if it wasn't part of the image he constructed for himself. The film meanders a bit, as Davis does, constantly looking for another favor, another place to crash. Its never boring though nor is it episodic.
The film is beautifully shot. The look of the film completely sells the feeling of winter and all that entails but it never feels overly dreary.
With all the talk of winter and self sabotage I may be presenting this film as a bit of a dirge but it certainly is not. The film never stops moving and Llewyn's desperat couch hopping brings him into contact with many characters as distinctly odd and memorable as any of the folk in the Coens past films. Along with the quirk, for a lack of a better term, this film employs quite a bit of dry whit which combined with the circumstances almost feels like gallows humor. Its not a laugh per minute or even really screwball comedy (though there are elements of that) but a certain amount of humor provides a backbone for the movie. It makes for an interesting combination of tones.
As this film is centered around a folk singer, such music features prominently throughout the film. I know some of the songs were pre-existing folk songs, and a few of the songs have been written for the film. All are wonderfully performed in a way that really feels authentic. I've been to a few folk music shows in recent years and although this film is set around 50 years ago, they capture the vibe of such a thing perfectly.
Not a complaint at all but the ordering of things is a bit odd, and I'll just leave it at that.
Numbered ratings are fairly meaningless, so I'll just end this by saying that at the very least this movie is worth giving a shot. Check it out if you get the chance.