Three years later, Beef is finally back on Netflix, so it’s time to take irrelevant peeves to extremes again. The dark comedy series has fully embraced an anthology format, bringing in a completely different cast from Season 1, led by two of the biggest stars around, Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan. Film buffs, however, immediately noticed this isn’t the first, nor the second, time the duo has played a dysfunctional couple on screen. In the early 2010s, they worked together on Drive and Inside Llewyn Davis, two films that couldn’t be further apart from their shenanigans in Beef and are among the best in that decade. So, what makes them such a great dysfunctional duo, and why do we always come back for more?
Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan Play a Troubled Family in 2011’s ‘Drive’
While Beef is certainly the funniest effort of Isaac and Mulligan as a duo, the first one, Drive, is much more complex and dramatic. Mulligan plays Irene, neighbor and crush to Ryan Gosling‘s unnamed protagonist, with Standard (Isaac) as her husband, who is released from prison shortly after they develop a platonic relationship. What follows is an unusual, yet surprisingly positive take on a love triangle, as Standard immediately understands what’s up, tries to bond with the Driver instead of antagonizing him, and gives Irene her space, hoping to earn her trust back.
Though they share limited screen time, Isaac and Mulligan’s acting makes their relationship feel incredibly complex. We know nothing about their characters’ relationship before his arrest, but they make a whole shared past be felt through subtle gestures, like tight smiles or glances that linger a tad longer. Those gestures are relatable to anyone who’s ever been in a relationship, and, because of this, they work better at fleshing these characters out than any amount of exposition ever could, even if they aren’t immediately obvious to outsiders.
Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan’s Chaotic Relationship in ‘Inside Llewyn Davis’
If Drive is about subtlety, Inside Llewyn Davis flips the dynamic entirely, making the relationship between Isaac’s title character and Jean (Mulligan) deeply chaotic. He is a depressed folk singer in 1960s Greenwich Village with a romantic belief in his own talent, and she is just as embedded in that struggling music scene, but far less willing to romanticize it. The two of them have a long history together, and Jean swears she’s pregnant with his baby, making things all the more difficult, as she’s actually married to a much more popular and influential singer.
Most of the fighting between Llewyn and Jean may sound like bickering at first, but, in true Coen brothers fashion, their exchanges pack a punch that reveals how layered their past really is, even if we don’t know much about it. We do know, for example, that they have each been with half the Village, and Jean hates herself for being attracted to Llewyn, who always makes a point of reminding her that “it takes two to tango.” They are locked in this constant, verbal warfare where she is always on the offensive, and he casually deflects her with irony and sarcasm.
Why Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan Are Such a Compelling On-Screen Duo
Whenever people talk about their favorite actor pairings, Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan aren’t always top-of-mind, even though they are currently sharing the screen in similar roles for the third time. It says more about how viewers approach stars and their industry status than the works the two of them share: when Isaac and Mulligan work together, it’s never in franchise films or blockbusters. So, despite potential cult status and awards buzz, films like Drive and Inside Llewyn Davis naturally draw less attention than studio tent poles, unfortunately.
In that sense, Drive and Inside Llewyn Davis are more intimate works that allow actors of their caliber to fully display their chops, regardless of how much screen time they may share. It isn’t really that the actors simply have great chemistry and everything happens naturally, but that they are both acutely aware of each other and their scenes’ emotional rhythm and dialogue pace. The fact that the audience can perceive their characters’ whole shared histories in these films is a testament to how committed they are. Having a great script and direction goes a long way, but it’s ultimately down to the actor to really make these relationships feel real.
In Beef, Isaac and Mulligan’s work is certainly more physical and, sometimes, even over-the-top, which relates to the series’ premise of taking people to the extreme because of one single moment of lost control. It’s an interesting change of pace from their usual more dramatic dynamics, especially considering that, this time, they have a “rival” couple in Charles Melton and Cailee Spaeny. In all three works, the characters are uncertain whether they’re meant to be together; as actors, however, Isaac and Mulligan are fits we rarely see nowadays. As dysfunctional as Standard and Irene are in Drive and Llewyn and Jean are in Inside Llewyn Davis, we’re about to meet a whole other side to their partnership in Beef.
Drive and Inside Llewyn Davis are both available to rent on Prime Video.
