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The Man Who Wasn't There

The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)

November. 16,2001
|
7.5
|
R
| Drama Crime

A tale of murder, crime and punishment set in the summer of 1949. Ed Crane, a barber in a small California town, is dissatisfied with his life, but his wife Doris' infidelity and a mysterious opportunity presents him with a chance to change it.

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Executscan
2001/11/16

Expected more

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HeadlinesExotic
2001/11/17

Boring

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WiseRatFlames
2001/11/18

An unexpected masterpiece

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Sameer Callahan
2001/11/19

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

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merelyaninnuendo
2001/11/20

The Man Who Wasn't There2 Out Of 5The Man Who Wasn't There is a plot driven feature that focuses a baffling mind of a dissatisfying middle aged man. The convoluted and over thought out monologues imbibes the essence from the soul of the feature and turns it into a repetitive slog which seems on loop for around 2 hours. It is short on technical aspects like background score, costume design, sound department, production design and editing although the cinematography; like the first thing the protagonist notes about a person is the hair for he is a barber, and the sound effects are amazing. The screenplay by the Coen brothers, isn't smart or ground breaking as it may seem for the characters are chewed off way too much for the audience to savor it and addition to that, the scrutiny isn't as convoluted as they think, it's just merely spread out into scattered bits and pieces which despite of being bound well enough, barely moves the muscle in the bigger picture. Joel Coen; the director, seems distracted and blurred out of the vision that he has aspired to set as it never attains a singularity on the terms and laws residing in his self-created bubble. The Man Who Wasn't There actually seems like the makers that weren't there for the audience as the feel disconnected throughout the course of it.

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Filipe Neto
2001/11/21

In this film, a crime is committed by the most unsuspecting individual: the barber. I already knew the Coen brothers' taste for black humor, evident in "Fargo", which was their first movie I watched. In this film, the humorous and almost sarcastic tone is still present, although its sometimes subtle and mixed with social criticism. Ed wasn't the "man who was not there" because he was a barber, but because society never gave him importance or noticed his existence. His profession ends up becoming a symbol of this. The story is set in the 1950s, so it plays with the ideas and mentality of the time, especially the exaggerated belief in extraterrestrials, just as it makes little allusions to the cinematic aesthetics of that era (B movies, sci-fi, cinema noir). Cinematography helped a lot at this point, with an elegant black and white, balanced tones and nice contrast.Regarding the actors, Billy Bob Thornton is to be congratulated because he has disengaged himself in this challenge with praises. Ed is one of a few people with few sayings and an unimpressive attitude, and the actor's performance, ranging from slightly funny to slightly scary, was very good, set in a gigantic physical and expressive self-control. On the opposite side is Michael Badalucco, in a histrionic and talkative character, where the actor was excellent. Frances McDormand was also fine, especially when she split the screen with Billy Bob, and James Gandolfini did what was expected of him. Scarlett Johansson did quite well in a character who is only innocent in appearance. Finally, a note of appreciation for the soundtrack, where classic works for piano are abundant.

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ofpsmith
2001/11/22

The year is 1949. Ed Crane (Billy Bob Thornton) is a barber with a generally uneventful life. He suspects his wife Doris Crane (Frances McDormand) is having an affair with her boss Dave Brewster (James Gandolfini), and he has little connection with her. So when a customer at the barber shop Creighton Tolliver (Jon Polito) tells Ed about putting up $10,000 in the new technology of dry cleaning, Ed decides to blackmail Brewster anonymously to get the money. The plan goes awry and the movie turns into a suspense based drama. The movie is great. The classic black and white cinematography, along with the acting cement the laconic late 40s tone. I always enjoy the Coen brothers, and although The Man who Wasn't There is one of the less known works it should not be overlooked.

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patrick powell
2001/11/23

I might be in a minority here, but as a rule Coen brothers' films tend only to get two cheers from me. They are undoubtedly well-made, well-directed, well-scripted, well-acted, imaginative and often funny, but all-too-often there seems to be something lacking. They are invariably clever, but it's a kind of knowing cleverness, and I can't get rid of the sensation that behind it all are Joel and Ethan Coen patting themselves on their backs at how clever they are. Miller's Crossing struck me as not so much a film but an exercise in filmmaking.Fargo was funny, but curiously heartless and cruel. Even Blood Simple, the film with which, as far as I know, they first made their names and which blew me over the first time I saw it, struck me at the second viewing as a tad mechanical: the Coens know all the moves and then some, but something crucial is lacking. So I'm pleased to say The Man Who Wasn't There, as far as I'm concerned, proves to be an exception and a very welcome one at that.Central to its success is Billy Bob Thornton as that man, a curiously inert figure, one almost without personality, and that Thornton is able not just to bring him to life but make him likable and sympathetic is a real achievement. He conveys so much about Ed Crane, the man who wasn't there, by hardly acting. We don't get to know what makes Crane tick or why he is so inert, but we accept him as he is just as we accept the quirks of our family and friends in real life.The Man Who Wasn't There is – rather trendily – billed as neo-noir and it does stay true to the principles of what the French dubbed film noir: the tragic inevitability of the hero's demise, the way it is shot (supposedly in monochrome, but the copy I saw last night was in washed out colour), the hard-boiled dialogue, the various characters – from the 'pansy' shyster to the detectives who come to give Crane bad news, to his wife's boss and lover who is killed and with whose murder Crane's innocent wife is charged.All performances are great but I particularly enjoyed Tony Shalhoub as the expensive hotshot lawyer hired to get Crane's wife off the hook and who comes up with a particularly imaginative defence. And in all of this the Coens', for once, keep their undoubted cleverness in check.So if you like their work without reserve, watch this one. If, like me, you are a tad wary of the brothers and their 'look what bright things we are' schtick, relax, and watch it, too.

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