REVIEW: ‘Inside Llewyn Davis’ Sings the Strange Allure of Melancholia

The Coen Brothers are like a great luxury-goods brand: This season’s style might not be your thing, but they never make crap. They have built that brand more deftly than any other filmmaker in Hollywood: they have remained respected mavericks throughout their careers; they have never raped budgets no matter how much a previous film made; they have consistently won the game every auteur director tries to keep in play: make one for the studios, then one for yourself, make one for studios… All you need do is look up their filmography to see the Coens are the Roger Federer of this tricky back-and-forth: first came No Country for Old Men and Burn After Reading (both studio), then A Serious Man (personal),