| The Man Who Wasn't There |
 |
|
|
| Rating: Good Distributor: USA Films Release Date: October 31st, 2001 Running Length: 1 hour, 56 minutes Genre: Dark Comedy, Noir MPAA Rating: R Director: Joel Coen Cast: Billy Bob Thornton, Frances McDormand, James Gandolfini, Michael Badalucco, Scarlett Johansson, and Tony Shalhoub. |
| Plot: Ed Crane (Billy Bob Thornton) lives a very quiet life as a barber, in fact he himself rarely speaks. He has no relationship with his wife (Frances McDormand), and he knows his wife is cheating on him with her boss, Big Dave (James Gandolfini). Interestingly, he doesn't seem mind that his wife is cheating on him. When a man comes in Ed's Barber shop he talks about a new business he is creating, and he claims all he needs is a financial backer. Crane's is interested, but to get the money he anonymously blackmails his wife's boss. Afterwards everything goes wrong for Crane. Big Dave finds out who blackmailed him, confronts Ed, attacks him, and in turn Ed ends up killing Big Dave. Afterwards Ed is led on a long, sad journey of continuous tragedies, replete with a fast talking lawyer (Tony Shalhoub), multiple trials, and a car accident. |
| Critique: The Man Who Wasn't There is a sinuous dark comedy noir, with gorgeous black and white cinematography from Roger Deakins. The Coen brothers concoct a wild story of dark misadventures full of bizarre twists and fascinating characters. Like many Coen brothers films, The Man Who Wasn't There is disjointed and choppy; it has no natural flow. But that is a flaw that is easily eclipsed by in this film by fantastic artistry and an exceptional performance by Billy Bob Thornton. Thornton's quiet protagonist is something truly special, and he balances the comedy and drama of his character with amazing results. When the story becomes dry, Thornton gives the film its juice. Indeed, the first segment of the film is banal; however the wild twists and turns in the plot have an additive effect, making the film more compelling as it moves along. Billy Bob Thornton is not the only excellent performer in The Man Who Wasn't There. The whole cast performs well; Frances McDormand, James Gandolfini, Michael Badalucco, Scarlett Johansson are all very good. But the standout of the supporting cast is Tony Shalhoub. As the fast talking lawyer who takes on two different cases in the life of Thornton, Shalhoub shines. Credit goes to Coen brothers for drawing such uniformly exceptional performances from the cast. They are very talented with actors. The Man Who Wasn't There is an absorbing dark comedy noir that has impressive black and white cinematography by Roger Deakins. The Coen brothers films tend to be disjointed, without flow, but that flaw is redeemed by their ability with actors, and often with their artistry. I highly recommend The Man Who Wasn't There, a film of accomplished artistry and acting. review by supernothingman |