Blu-ray

The latest film from Joel and Ethan Coen takes us back to 1961 to follow the travails of Greenwich Village folk musician Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac). Formerly part of a duo, Davis has reinvented himself as a solo artist since his partner's suicide – which wouldn't necessarily be such a bad thing if his album was actually selling. So Davis packs up his guitar (and a friend's cat) and heads across country for a last-ditch effort at impressing the music mogul who could give him the big break his career needs.

Equal parts tragedy and comedy, this is exactly the sort of deftly-observed flick that fans have come to expect from the Coens. While the melancholy tone threatens to overwhelm the characters, its held in check by the script's dark humour, an excellent cast and the wonderful range of musical performances. Perfect for a nice relaxed evening.

Picture: Inside Llewyn Davis favours a desaturated colour palette, resulting in a rather cold aesthetic, with even skin tones erring towards zombie territory. Still, this doesn't appear to have any impact on detailing, with a fine array of well-drawn textures evident in the period costumes. Those with a keen eye for such things will spot a few instances of banding and black crush in the AVC 1.85:1 1080p encode, but overall this is a solid transfer.
Picture rating: 4/5

Audio: While Inside Llewyn Davis' DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack isn't the most aggressive or potent around, when it comes to the musical numbers it's an unqualified success. There's a natural smoothness to the tonal range that brings out the best in the material, while the accompanying vocals are handled sublimely. Away from this the 5.1 mix is pretty low-key. Subtle ambience in the surrounds helps liven up the locations and dialogue is never anything less than clear, but there's little LF extension to get excited about.
Audio rating: 4.5/5

Extras: There's only one extra on the disc, but at least it's a good one. The 43-minute Inside Inside Llewyn Davis is a detailed look at the making of the film, with particular focus on the casting and the pre-recording of the musical numbers. In addition to Joel and Ethan Coen, the documentary also features interviews with most of the cast and music supervisors T. Bone Burnett and Marcus Mumford.

To support this release, distributor StudioCanal has also released the concert film Another Day, Another Time: Celebrating the Music of Inside Llewyn Davis on Blu-ray in the UK – although it's a little strange that they didn't also think to do a double-pack of the two titles.
Extras rating: 1.5/5

We say: The lossless soundtrack is enough to guarantee this Blu-ray a euphoric reception from fans

Inside Llewyn Davis, StudioCanal, Region B BD, £23 Approx
HCC VERDICT: 4/5