A movie about cats

I saw the movie Inside Llewyn Davis last night, and while I liked it a lot, I never realized going in that it was really a movie about cats.  The film follows the fictional Llewyn Davis, a struggling folk singer in the 1960’s in New York.

Now of course I can relate to and appreciate any film about a struggling artist trying to survive through his craft.  Not all that much happens to him though, but here is my general synopsis.  Spoiler alert, if you don't want to know what happens with the cats, look away now.  Otherwise, here we go:

Llewyn accidentally lets out his friend’s cat.

He takes the cat home.

He loses the cat.

He finds the cat.

He takes the cat back.

The cat he found was the wrong cat.

He takes the wrong cat on a road trip.

He loses the wrong cat.

He runs the wrong cat over in the car.

The wrong cat hobbles off into the woods to die.

Llewyn returns to New York.

The original cat comes home.

The end.

For those who haven’t seen it yet but wondered what the movie was really about, you’re welcome.  A few other notes: firstly I appreciated the fact that Davis was a merchant sailor in the Seafarers International Union, of which I also have a history.  Secondly, I really am tired of John Goodman playing overblown, over-the-top characters in every single Coen brothers movie, though his character this time was also left by the side of the road to die, so maybe that is that last we’ll be seeing of him?  One can hope.

To wrap my little review here, I do actually recommend the film.  Most struggling artists never do quite make it, even if they are talented, but that doesn’t make the journey taken any less worthwhile.