Another critical success for the Coen�s, their latest finds Billy Bob Thornton playing Ed Crane, a barber in small-town 1940s California, whose placid exterior hides a slow-burning ambition to do something different with his life. Stuck in a work environment he doesn�t like and a marriage which has long since run cold, his interest is piqued (well, perhaps as much as it ever will be) by a colourful customer�s proposition of investing in an industry of the future, dry cleaning. Without batting an eyelid, Ed decides to blackmail Big Dave, boss of the department store his wife works at and who also happens to be having an affair with her.
The Man Who Wasn�t There is both very original and also very familiar to Coen fans. The essential premise of simple folk embarking on a criminal enterprise bound for failure is one of the cornerstones of their body of work so far. Therefore it also follows that there is murder, double-cross and farcical characters to come. This time, the theme that the brothers elect to run through the movie is an homage to film noir past, referencing many old favourites and carefully shooting in a consciously nostalgic style. This is beautiful cinematography with the use of light and shadows uppermost in their minds. Interestingly, I heard the film was shot entirely in colour then reprocessed to black and white, but the print I saw was full colour, albeit in a very faded style, reminiscient of an old photograph.
Unfortunately, The Man Who Wasn�t There doesn�t quite compete with the greatest Coen movies. The cast are as well directed and note-perfect as ever; Thornton is ideal for a Coen movie but of course even the smallest character is allowed to impose their oddness onto proceedings. However the story does wander towards the end, with Ed�s dubious feelings towards a local adolescent piano player and an almost Lynchian nod to otherworldly visitors. The pace is very slow, in fact with such a contemplative, stoical lead character some scenes are hushed in the extreme, something which might not sit well with an impatient viewer expecting some The Big Lebowski fireworks. You get the feeling that Ed Crane is very much bored of the hustle and bustle of this world and would actually prefer to be in a silent movie, where he might be afforded the time to think about bigger things like life, the universe and, of course, a spinning hubcap. |
