Extra Cinema: Inside Llewyn Davis (15)

Directors: Joel and Ethan Coen

Oscar Isaac plays the eponymous musician, who has yet to recover from the suicide of his singing partner. He ricochets from one gig to the next, begging for temporary refuge on the couches of friends including Mitch Gorfein (Ethan Phillips) and his wife Lillian (Robin Bartlett).

By accident, Llewyn lets out the Gorfeins’ cat and he embarks on a mission to track down the feline before his hosts notice it is missing.

Thankfully, Llewyn locates the animal but since he is unable to return it to the locked apartment, the singer-songwriter takes his four-legged nemesis to the flat of friends Jim (Justin Timberlake) and Jean (Carey Mulligan), who are also a singing duo.

When the Gorfeins’ cat escapes for a second time, Llewyn resigns himself to telling them the truth and heads to Chicago for an important audition in the company of drug-addicted jazz musician Roland Turner (John Goodman) and his driver Johnny Five (Garrett Hedlund).

Interspersed with musical performances by the cast, Inside Llewyn Davis is another offbeat character study from the Coens proving what goes around, comes around.

Isaac is terrific, weathering each outrageous misfortune with the same look of mournful resignation.

All in all, a quiet delight which faithfully recreates Greenwich Village of the 1960s.

Rating: 10/10