The Man Who Wasn't There

Noir has always been about people caught in circumstances where there seems to be no way out and one bad decision may spawn a series of events that eventually catch up with the people involved. In this story, Ed Crane (Billy Bob Thornton, channeling Humphrey Bogart through his looks and Fred MacMurray through his voice-overs) is the victim of his own life. Caught in a dysfunctional marriage of apparent convenience to Doris (Frances McDormand), working a dead-end job as a barber with her brother, going through life like a shadow (people have a tendency to forget his name), he also suspects Doris may be having an affair with her boss Big Dave (played by James Gandolfini). When a deal comes by which could make him some big money, he thinks he will carry this through and get some revenge towards his wife. Things go wrong -- the man with whom he has jumped into a shady business has disappeared -- and Crane accidentally (or out of rage) commits a murder which lands Doris in jail. To say more of the story would be to reveal twists and turns of the plot as it advances towards its full-circle and those must be experienced instead of told in a "review." But suffice to say, every action generates a consequence, and even plot threads which had been apparently been dropped eventually re-surface with tremendous, almost painful irony and remind us that noir is an unforgiving genre, unkind to its characters, cruel to the extreme. If at times the story seems a tad long it's in the subplot involving Scarlett Johansson who coats the movie with a Lolita-esquire persona as her character essays a tentative affair with Crane; however, even that storyline feeds into Crane's retribution at the end. Gorgeous black and white, textured use of deep-focus, this is a movie Gregg Toland would have loved to have his hands on had this been 1941 instead of 2001. THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE could be called stylistic in its frank depiction of textbook noir (James Cain comes to mind), but the Coen brothers make it work all the way through with smart direction, scenes that smolder, and a touch of their own unique humor interspersed here and there. Not their best but very, very close.

This newest film by the Coen brothers is a masterpiece by all standards in my opinion. Once again the Coens have succeeded in doing what they have done in all 8 of their previous movies, making a simple story more interesting than you could ever imagine possible! Billy Bob Thornton adds to the noir atmosphere with his superb emotionless portrayal of the barber (of the title) Ed Crane. Essays could be written just on the way he smokes his cigarette! Of course the Coens have recalled other faces from their little black book of actors-we'll-use-again-in-some-small-part. Jon Polito is truly very annoying (in a good way) in his role as someone trying to sell a dry cleaning idea to Thornton (and you never thought dry cleaning could be interesting?). Whereas Tony Shalhoub is a humorous addition as the ridiculously confusing attorney. How can we also forget Mrs Joel Coen, aka Frances McDormand. As Thorntons wife she excels and towards the end shows real emotion and acting prowess as seen previously in Fargo and Blood Simple. The fact that this film was shot in black and white is a first for the Coens and adds a 1940's atmosphere that no color film could do. The denouement is an excellent study of Crane's life with his emotionless voice over accompanying it. Overall, this film is an example of what film should be. With the crew and cast an example of what a film cast and crew should be. How This film was nominated for no Oscars is criminal, especially Thornton. However the Coens had their usual Cannes reception to fall back on (Cannes is the only one that counts for REAL movies anyway!). Winning the directors prize (shared) for Joel Coen, although as always with the Coens, where Joel goes, Ethan follows, so the credit is really to both of them. 10/10 In my opinion the Coens best work.

Man Who Wasn't There is lost out of the gate. It's much clearer the second time you view it. It flits between 10 different incompatible story lines, and can't figure out a way to develop any of them. It goes nowhere. Many viewers were tricked into thinking this movie matters due to its cinematography (It looks nice) and by the authors (The Coens continue to receive unearned accolades). It's a bunch of Noir posturing/noodling with scenes designed to kill time, not add up. It drifts and drifts and drifts. It's a catalog of half-hearted, half-developed ideas, so it begins to feel like it's running long after only 20 minutes. Who can tell what they set out to explore? A viewer will never figure out why it was brought into existence because the Coens have not imbued it with any sense of purpose. Long before Burn After Reading, and O Brother, the Coens were making movies that lacked a reason for being. It's not detestable. It's just all over the place. It's a completely shapeless movie.

source: The Man Who Wasn't There

I originally checked out this movie because the beautifully modern Scarlett Johansson had been a part of it, but I am glad that I watched it because it's not your typical morale story wrapped up in some different style. I'm a bit perplexed as to the overall theme of the movie, even though Billy Bob's incredibly stoic character went into detail about how he felt about this time in this man's life. I learned little and therefore, I was entertained about as much. The b&w detail and starkness was emensely helpful to see how this man saw the world for so long, but again, the story was either lacking or very indirect. I was disappointed to see that Birdy, Johansson's character, turned out to be so very average as well. Overall, it got a 6 from me. An average shot in the dark that had stylistic flair, but an indirect message and story.

Like everyone else I thought it was visually impressive. But that was not enough to keep me watching. In deference to the bros I watched to the end, but the story-line wasn't strong enough to keep me from getting up regularly to check my stock quotes on the internet.

I couldn't keep my eyes awake through this movie. It's mostly slow moving and boring with some interesting parts put in, such as when Ed Crane murders his wife's boss and his wife gets blamed for it. The main concept of the story line is pretty interesting, I'll admit, but the presentation of the story just didn't do it for me. Furthermore, most of the film seems to be a simple dedication to older, better films, like Citizen Kane and Exotica. In fact, 'birdy' just seems to be taken directly from Sarah Polley's roles in both Exotica and The Sweet Hereafter; the main character escaping harsh reality through her music and other actions, and the accident. This may have been on done purposely, but after watching so many great movies and then seeing them done over in this movie is just clichéd to me.

Quite boring with a few chuckles. Not a movie you want to search out. Nice B/W cinematography. Interesting point is how Scarlett Johansen looks exactly like a younger Francis McDermott in this movie. At first, I thought Francis played both parts with some CGI magic.

"The Man Who Wasn't There" (2001): Written and directed by the Coen brothers. Billy Bob Thornton, Scarlett Johansson, Frances McDormand, James Gandolfini, Michael Badalucco, Tony Shalhoub… and the superb, perfect, artful, intelligent photography of Roger Deakins. As always, we find interesting characters and a story that takes awhile to unfold and explain itself – or appears to explain itself. This would be enough for me with the Coen brothers, but I must say, THIS time it's the visuals. It is one of THE MOST beautifully crafted films in all of history. I mean it. I'm partial to b/w anyhow, but for all the "right" reasons, and this film is an Icon of The Right Reasons. It's up there with "Anchoress", "Manhattan", "Sansho the Bailiff", "The Burmese Harp", "Eraserhead", "Schindler's List", "Made for Each Other", "Hud", "Village of the Damned", "Good Night and Good Luck", "Stranger than Paradise", "The Elephant Man", "Casablanca", and "Onibaba" in its visual artistry.

If you remove the black and white photography, the characteristic black humor and the Coen brothers aura that surrounds the film, this is a mediocrity. The above elements do not suffice to transform a generally poor effort to a film of the caliber of previous Coen masterpieces. Billy Bob Thornton is so desperately and annoyingly trying to look cool (and no, it was not needed by the plot). Is this the way he captured Angelina? I would definitely have not missed anything if I hadn't watched this.