Bleak but lovely journey OK for older-teen music fans.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 16+?
Any Positive Content?
Language
a lot
Lots of swearing in the first part of the film, and then it's periodic. Some pejorative language ("queer"), plus "s--t," "---hole," "Goddammit," "sonofabitch," "d--k," "piss" and "f--k."
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.
A man gets tipsy at a club and heckles the performer. Some social drinking. A man is shown shaking on a bathroom floor after an apparent drug overdose.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.
The biggest ally you can have when you're reaching for your dreams is self-motivation and drive. There will be days when striving seems for naught, but you can't short-change yourself.
Positive Role Models
a little
Llewyn's not a particularly popular or together guy, but his passion for his music is impressive, second only to his talents. Some of his friends do really care about him, and hold his best interests at heart.
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Inside Llewyn Davis, by filmmaking brothersJoel and Ethan Coen, is a startlingly affecting drama about 1960s Greenwich Village folk singer Llewyn Davis's struggle to be noticed and to survive. Expect a bleak (but memorable) retelling that includes some intense subject matter (suicide, abortion), plus some drinking and a scene of a possible drug overdose that may be too heavy for younger teens. There's also plenty of swearing, including "---hole" and "f--k," and a bunch of amazing musical performances. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
Excellent movie for mature adults but themes of failure, hopelessness likely to depress rather than enlighten teens
The Coen brother's tonic for the existential burden of life - every individual's aloneness, the seeming futility of suffering, the random violence of circumstance - is art . In the movie , the 'art' is folk singing. For the Coen Brothers, their artistry creates cynical movies, infused with dark humor. This Coen Brothers movie is way less violent than any of their other movies, so by that metric, it is certainly more appropriate for teens (no Coen movie is ever appropriate for children or tweens), but the despair, the meandering journey the protagonist takes, I don't see how any of that creates the sense of adventure and hope that a young adult needs when she/he is setting out in the world. So avoid it. They can check back in with this movie, in their forties.
This look at a folk singer’s life in the ‘60s is sometimes funny but mostly just depressing. The humor comes primarily from irony, but the inescapable facts of each situation make it more often sad than funny. Still, the acting is spot on as a host of top-tier actors fill out their idiosyncratic characters in what amount to a series of extended cameos in true Coen Brothers fashion. Like A Serious Man the plot seems to meander, but here it supports the reality of the protagonist’s life. The lack of a point to the film is counterbalanced by the soulful, emotional music throughout, which makes it worth a watch.
What's the Story?
Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) is having a bad time. His former musical partner gone, due to a tragic suicide, he's going it alone. Though they were mildly successful as a duo, nobody wants to give him the time of day as a soloist. Meantime, an old lover (Carey Mulligan), who's now dating his best friend (Justin Timberlake), drops some unexpected news, making Llewyn more determined than ever to figure his life out. Llewyn pins his hopes onto an audience with a Chicago nightclub owner and music manager, and he'll make the pilgrimage to the Windy City by hitchhiking with a junkie jazz musician (John Goodman) and his surly sidekick (Garrett Hedlund).
INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS is a feat of filmmaking, taking the gentle strains of folk music and revealing it for the revolutionary act that it is. Not just because it has been the soundtrack of many social movements, but of personal ones, too. Oscar Isaac as Llewyn is revelatory, a bone-tired, supremely talented man whose passion for making music is struggling mightily against the whims of the industry and his demons -- one being the loss of his musical partner to suicide. When Isaac sings, we're transported first to the dusky bars of 1960s West Village and, more important, to the jungle of discouragement and confusion he's living in. It's a powerful performance. Supporting him is a great ensemble, some new to the Coen Brothers family (Timberlake, thankfully subdued and nearly holding his own against the others) and some beloved veterans (Goodman).
It's not just Isaac and the cast, though, that makes Inside Llewyn Davis remarkable. The music, with T-Bone Burnett in charge of the soundtrack, takes its rightful place front and center. And the Coens tell the story in a clever, elliptical way that drives home the futility and magic of a time. But it's not all sadness and tears. The Coens' singular humor runs a streak through the entire enterprise. Go see it.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the character of Llewyn. What makes him different from other movie heroes? What is the message behind his journey?
How does this movie illuminate the folk music scene of the 1960s? Does it debunk myths in any way?
What do you think of the folk music sung here? How is it different from today's music?
MPAA explanation:
language including some sexual references
Last updated:
October 21, 2023
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Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
By S. Jhoanna Robledo
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