The Coen brothers, as successful a pair as any in show business today, consider the fate of a '60s folk duo after one of them jumps off a bridge. (This being the Coen brothers, it is of course the wrong bridge: the George Washington instead of the Brooklyn). Surprise, surprise: the surviving half doesn't regenerate into a stunning solo success. Instead, it — or rather he, the titular Llewyn (a long-suffering Oscar Isaac) — limps along, leaving some artistic integrity here, some biological material there, some hopes and dreams in the other place. Not everybody gets to be Dylan. Not everybody even gets paid. New York City looks grayly fantastic, and the '60s folk music scene is well and truly (and thoroughly) evoked. But if you're looking for your vicarious suffering to have meaning — well, maybe listen to some folk songs. With Carey Mulligan, F. Murray Abraham, and a scene-munching John Goodman. (2013) — Matthew Lickona