The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)

For all of its late-1940s cold war paranoia, pulp fiction dialogue, and frenzied greed, Joel and Ethan Coen's The Man Who Wasn't There is their most cool and collected film since Blood Simple. An unassuming barber with a scheming wife (Frances McDormand) and a serious smoking habit, Ed Crane (Billy Bob Thornton) is an onlooker to his own life, a ghostly presence set against a silver-toned film noir backdrop. Only when he decides to alter his fate by blackmailing his wife's lover (James Gandolfini) in order to invest with a traveling salesman (Jon Polito) touting the wave of the future--dry cleaning--do we begin to hear the full extent of Ed's understated, existential lament. As his lawyer (Tony Shalhoub) says in Ed's defense at his eventual trial for murder, "He is modern man." Thornton's deadpan eloquence and cinematographer Roger Deakins's precision lighting offer the perfect counterbalance to the requisite one-liners, plot twists, and false endings that have come to characterize recent Coen brothers films. Almost in spite of the obsessive cultural references (flying saucers, Nabokov's Lolita, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle), Ed Crane steps neatly from the fray as one of cinema's most memorably disenchanted characters. --Fionn Meade Amazon.com

It definitely felt like no one was there...

I was really excited about this movie. First of all it's a Coen film. Second of all James Gandolfini is in the film; not to mention Scarlett Johansson and Frances McDormand. Sure, Billy Bob Thornton is the star, and I like him (don't love him) but the other four selling points were much stronger. On top of all that it is a film noir, and lately I've been on a real film noir kick. Sure, I've seen quite a few that have been less than impressive (`Devil in a Blue Dress') but there have been enough good ones to keep my appetite wet.

Sadly, `The Man Who Wasn't There' is not one of them.

The problem with `The Man Who Wasn't There' doesn't really fall in lines of scripting, for I actually felt that the story was really well done. It doesn't really fall in the lines of acting either, for I felt that as a whole the performances were inspired and helped flesh out the emotional line in the film. The cinematography is also a highlight, possibly the greatest part of the film. The lighting is beautiful and captures the mood of the film, that brooding and dark atmosphere.

I love that.

The problem falls in the line of pacing. Yes, `The Man Who Wasn't There' drags on, or at least feels like it drags on, to the point where I could care less who was there and who wasn't there; I just want it to be over. I understand that the film noir is supposed to have that repressed feel to it, that slow and gradual revealing of plot points, but this is truly ridiculous. The film just feels like it's going nowhere, like it's standing still for long drawn out patches of time. Part of this could be chalked up to Thornton's very lethargic performance, but that's part of the territory and other actors have given the same dreary-eyed portrayal and still held my interest.

No, the problem lies with the films layout; so I guess the Coen's are to blame for that.

The Coen brothers are truly a hit or miss set of directors. When they hit they hit hard (`Fargo', `No Country for Old Men') but when they miss they miss hard (`Intolerable Cruelty'). `The Man Who Wasn't There' is a miss for me.

As far as the cast is concerned, there are some wonderfully complete performances here that help elevate the film in areas. Standout to me was, by far, James Gandolfini. As Big Dave he was brilliantly charismatic and captivating. Frances McDormand was also a gem, as was Tony Shalhoub. Scarlett Johansson wasn't in much of the film, but when she was there she was effective. Thornton has received praise and accolades for his performance, but he bored me stiff. I don't know if it was his fault, but I can't think of a scene where he commanded my attention.

The script has a lot of potential, and the turn of events with each passing scene is nice to witness, but the melodramatic approach to the film is overused and manages to outweigh the beauty within the premise. The Coen's are still some of our finest and most imaginative directors working today; but they can't always knock it out of the park. September 9, 2008

Another Coen masterpiece

I loved this film. Billy Bob showed control, almost autistic, but fully aware all the time. Frances McDormand and James Gandolfini added to the outrageous subtle humor, all with a perfect "noir" attitude. Scarlett Johannson adds a bit of interest to the proceedings. The Coens never fail to provide an interesting story, and this is as good as it gets. The black 'n white photography is brilliant. I like it a lot. Very amusing... September 1, 2008

The Coen Brothers' finest work.

The Man Who Wasn't There takes patience, a slow, dry movie that deftly and almost subtly takes the Coens' two styles (broad comedy and twisty, cause-and-effect crime drama) and blends them into a single piece of filmmaking. Where else are you going to get a pitch-perfect film noir, goofy alien subplots, such darkly ironic twists amongst discussion of dry cleaning and hairstyles?

Billy Bob Thornton inhabits the character of Ed Crane in a way that weighs down on his shoulders, dampens his mood, blanks his face. His "friend", Big Dave (James Gandolfini) tries to engage and amuse Ed, but Ed has already realized his wife may be having an affair with Dave. Ed smokes, stares out into the great unknown, and decides to blackmail Dave.

The results of this action are varying and intricate. If you put them side by side, they might look strange and baffling, but in the course of the movie, they make sense. In a movie full of highlights, it's hard to pick just one, but if I had to, I'd name Freddy Riedenschneider (Tony Shalhoub), a lawyer who talks a lot, mainly to himself. The cinematography is also beautiful -- glorious, evocative black and white that perfectly embodies the film's main character.

The Man Who Wasn't There is an acquired taste. Only after seeing all of The Coen Brothers' movies can I say it is my favorite, because it almost stands outside itself as a comment on their style. It's alive, yet unrealistic, dark yet funny, truthful, yet inescapably cinematic. It's the reason I love the Coen Brothers, and the reason I watch movies. July 10, 2008

Coen Brothers: Film # 9

This is a special Coen Brother's film. It is special because it is more for people who are fans of the Coen Brother's or film noir. While I believe others will surely like this film if they simply put it in their players, I also believe that they will not even give it a try because it is in Black and White. Well, I say, try it. Not surprising, we have a great film here. It is great because it is in black and white as a matter a fact. Like older films, the B&W brings forth a whole new perspective into this film. Where color would distract, a film in Black and white will show you exactly what needs to be seen. The Coen Brothers and Roger Deakins do a superb job with the black and white film here.

Billy Bob Thorton does a wonderful job with his character here. In fact, in my mind, he is the film. I have never seen a character like Thorton's character in other films. In this film he is a quiet man. But unlike other films, where we develop an understanding of this quiet man through moral dilemmas, explanations from other characters, in this film Thorton's character remains quiet. We are not later given a monotonous dialog of who this guy really was, he just was and that is all.

In the end, this is film noir at its finest and, mind you, it was made in 2001!

May 14, 2008

It drags like a wet cigar, chomped half to death in the corner of my mouth

Coen Brother's hit and miss film-making style did it again with this miss. I am a HUGE fan of their work, and an enormous fan of noir. But this was just too dragged out. The cast was great, the characters were great, the film was beautiful, but it was just boring. The narrative was ridiculously cliche, even for the neo-noir genre. It really broke my heart. I had hoped for sooooooooo much more. Go read some Fante, Faust, or rent some good ol' Mike Hammer DVDs. April 26, 2008

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