Inside Llewyn Davis 2013 ****

So many films depict a meteoric rise in pop culture success, with the posting of a song or clip on You Tube as a short fuse to fame; The Coen Brothers focus instead on a more honest depiction of the trials of an artist, singer-songwriter Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac), who wanders around Greenwich Village in the early sixties, playing session tracks and minor gigs, unaware that Bob Dylan is about to eclipse his minor successes. The Coens throw in a gallery of memorable minor characters, from John Goodman’s drug-addled musician to F Murray Abraham’s weary producer, and Justin Timberlake has a funny song spoofing folk music responses to the space programme. But Isaac makes the film, his soulful, self-destructive character a rare example of a character so true to life it’s almost painful to watch. Almost, because the Coens could find providence in the fall of a sparrow, and make Llewyn a compelling anti-hero.