Directed by:  Joel Coen
Written by:  Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Starring:  Billy Bob Thornton, Frances McDormand, James Gandolfini, Michael Badalucco, Jon Polito, Scarlett Johansson, Tony Shalhoub
 

October 31, 2001

         Imagine a 1940’s private eye talking about his exciting trials and tribulations, of the dames he bangs, and the trouble he gets mixed up in.  This would characterize many early film noir.
         Now imagine the narrator isn’t a heroic detective or police officer, just a lonely barber, who’s wife cheats on him, and he gets mixed up in extortion and murder.  This is the Coen Brothers’ spin on 1940’s film noir in their latest delve into stylistic characterization The Man Who Wasn’t There.
         Billy Bob Thornton, in one of his most exceptional subtle performances since Sling Blade, plays Ed Crane.  Ed is the second chair barber who doesn’t like to speak much and is married to Doris (McDormand).  Doris is cheating on Ed with Big Dave Brewster (Gandolfini) and Ed suspects it.  Extortion and murder follow and by the end, everybody gets what’s coming to them.
           The story in a sense is simplistic, much like Ed Crane himself, and is nothing new to the Coen Brothers, who have delved into these themes before in Blood Simple.  But that’s what’s so great about The Man Who Wasn’t There, the story is representative, a metaphor per say, for Ed Crane.  Here’s a man who stuff just sort of happens to.  People seem to cheat, die, and come onto him.  The story even takes a bit of a Lolita turn at one point.
         Aside from the story, this is the Coen Brothers at their technical best.  The movie is in black and white, which really gives it the 1940’s look and feel, as well as provides a great layer of shadows and atmosphere. 
        The film keeps it’s serious tone, but allows for the dark comedy and the standard weird and amusing characters the Coen Brothers are best known for.  Regular Jon Polito (Miller’s Crossing, The Hudsucker Proxy, The Big Lebowski) plays Creighton Tolliver, a salesman with a “full head of hair.”  And The Practice star Michael Badalluco plays the fast talking brother in law, who by chance knows nothing about the law.
        The title The Man Who Wasn’t There of course refers to Ed, but in a more symbolic way.  Ed is eventually ostracized by society through no fault of his own, depending how you look at it, which happens to many because people don’t know how to deal with death. 
        This may very well be the best film of the year, competing with David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, and by far one of the Coen Brothers finest.  Everything stands out, from the acting to the directing to the cinematography, and finally the score.  The soundtrack, including the music of Beethoven and Mozart, really creates the mood of the film and enhances the scenes and characterization of Ed and Birdy, the child piano player he tries to manage. 

Alternative Recommendations:  Barton Fink, Miller’s Crossing, The Big Lebowski, Fargo, Raising Arizona (all by The Coen Brothers), Sling Blade (s: Thornton)

-Reviewed in Theater (Advanced Screening)-