The Man Who Wasn't There
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Movie Reviews of The Man Who Wasn't There
Movie Review: Gloomy chronicle about a man without collective importance!
Summary: 5 Stars
If there was even a particle of doubt about the craftsmanship, the huge talent and the portent of these two acclaimed directors, this film would dissipate it.
This work became not only one of the best films of this year, but it was considered almost automatically a cult movie, and constituted the best entry of the Film Noir genre since Road to Perdition.
Plenty of singular details, with a prodigious camera handle, magnificent photography, a splendid cast, and an increasing suspense script, this artwork focuses around the minuscule world of an insignificant man, a barber who is cheated twice; in his personal honor and financially. Both failures are extremely linked and will work out as wrenches and existential crossroad that will wait for him at the end of the road.
He is a quite introspective man a misogyny who watches the world go round. His decisions and life project are clearly determined by others, so he is simply a leaf beaten by the wind an instrument of his extremely closed social circle.
It's convenient to remark the presence of an invisible character: Beethoven's piano music. In this sense every time Scarlet plays the piano, there is a allusive and clear reference between Patetique, Appassionata, Moonlight and The Sonata No. 32 that underline , (specially this late one who accents the dissolution final process of Ed Crane) and besides the intimate mood of our main character. So beware, if you are not yet familiarized with the spirit of every one of these works, you can loose important suggestive clues.
Billy Bob Thornton makes an impressive performance as well as Frances Mac Dormand, the consented actress of Coen Brothers - Blood simple and Fargo - .
I recommend specially this work, because to my mind it has been absolutely neglected by the critics and the great audiences.
Extraordinary.
Movie Review: The darkest of comedies brilliantly presented in glorious film-noir style!
Summary: 5 Stars
This review is for the 2002 Universal DVD.
The story is set in the late 1940's, where a small town barber named Ed Crane (Billy Bob Thorton) concocts a slick blackmail scheme targeting his cheating wife Doris (Frances McDormand) and her boss 'Big Dave' Brewster (James Gandolfini). After the payoff, Big Dave figures out that Ed set him up and a violent fight ensues where one of them is murdered. The cops arrest of the wrong person and a big city lawyer named Freddy Riedenschneider (Tony Schalhoub) is hired to defend the accused. This sets up the rest of the film for plenty of unexpected twists and turns along with a lot of subtle comedy.
The Coen Brothers now have a long resumé of wonderful films and this by far my personal favorite since there are many things that work brilliantly in this movie. First, the black and white cinematography strikingly captures the mood and feel of a late 1940's film. Second, the deadpan narration and stoic body language by Billy Bob Thorton is mesmerizing. Third, the attention to detail of the props, decorating and fashion styles is done to perfection. Fourth, the plot is slick and original. Finally, the comedy is as dark as the dead of night, but works magically in this bizarre and macabre atmosphere. I enthusiastically recommend this film - especially if you enjoy old film-noir flicks.
The DVD widescreen black & white presentation is superb, as it should be, since the movie was shot in 2001. There are many bonus features including commentary by the director Joel Coen and actor Billy Bob Thorton.
Movie: A+
DVD Quality: A+
Movie Review: The Coen Brothers' finest work.
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
Movie Review: Best film I have seen in a long time
Summary: 5 Stars
Well, leave it to the Coen brothers to turn a story about a barber who wants to become a dry cleaner into a little masterpiece. Everything about this film is superb. You could watch it frame by frame and never find a glitch. The cinematography is brilliant, and the film is in black and white. It could not be in colour, which would distract from its focus. The acting, the casting, are impeccable. Billy Bob is so absolutely the man who wasn't there that I can't remember his name in the film. This film is the same kind of tragedy as Fargo: you can see exactly what the tragic flaw is, exactly where everything goes wrong, and everything follows absolutely. It is quite beautiful in this logical progression of results to actions. But the focus is on our anti-hero, Billy Bob, who is one of the best developed and most believable characters I have ever seen on screen. Why he didn't get one of those heavy gold statues for this performance is beyond me.The DVD has a great commentary with the Coen brothers and Billy Bob, quite a funny and interesting commentary. One of the better ones. There are also interviews with the various actors in the film and with the infamous brothers themselves. All in all, I could not recommend any film more highly than this one. There is nothing that simple here. This is a film about life, about fear, about fears of inadequacy, about not being recognized, about everything good you ever tried to do turning to [bad stuff].It is the tragedy of a failure who simply could not be anything other than what he was, and it is utterly brilliant.
Movie Review: The Coen Brothers Do It Again
Summary: 5 Stars
"The Man Who Wasn't There" is a great film release from 2001, starring Billy Bob Thorton, Frances McDormand, Scarlett Johansson, and James Gandolfini. The Joel and Ethan Coen, the Oscar winning writers of "Fargo", prove that their creative minds express great and original entertainment. This gloomy themed movie keeps audiences interested in every scene, besides the black and white scenery. The plot of a barber who begins illegal dry cleaning, then becomes blackmailed, is brilliant. Its combination of mystery, drama, and suspense blends perfectly. The special effects, namely the UFO, add more interesting entertainment value. As the series of events unfold, the timely theme builds, leading to a surprising conclusion. Such movie quality offers a great unforgettable film experience. Billy Bob Thorton beautifully acts his role of Ed Gayne, the barber. Gayne's hard times are expressed greatly, which proves more difficult to accomplish because he doesn't speak often. His narration throughout the film offers another sense of mystery and gloomy effect. Frances McDormand's role as Gayne's wife is performed at her top throughout the film, expressing every emotion accurately. Scarlett Johansson proves that she is one of the few child stars with actual acting talent (she was 16). All other actors also perform their roles greatly. "The Man Who Wasn't There" is a great film that will keep audiences entertained for a long time. There is no other film like it.