This is a Resurfaced review written in 2002 or earlier. For more information, please visit this link: Resurfaced Reviews.

The Man Who Wasn’t There

Rating

Director

Joel Coen

Screenplay

Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

Length

1h 56m

Starring

Billy Bob Thornton, Frances McDormand, Michael Badalucco, James Gandfolfini, Katherine Borowitz, Jon Polito, Scarlett Johansson, Richard Jenkins, Tony Shalhoub, Christopher Kriesa, Brian Haley, Jack McGee

MPAA Rating

R

Review

When a lonely husband takes revenge on his wife’s adulterous lover, his life is forever changed to the detriment. “The Man Who Wasn’t There” is the latest in a long line of dark comedies from directing brothers Joel and Ethan Coen.

Ed (Billy Bob Thornton) is a barber. There’s no joy in Ed’s life, not even his wife Doris (Frances McDormand) can make him feel more than comfortable in his life. When he discovers that his wife is cheating on him with her boss, Big Dave (James Gandolfini), he sets out for revenge and murders him in cold blood. Ed’s hopes are that no one will suspect his involvement. No one ever thinks he’s involved, but his wife is brought in for question and put on trial for the crime.

Ed then hires attorney Freddy Riedenschneider (Tony Shalhoub) to defend his wife whom he still loves. In order to make the money to pay Riedenschneider’s fee, he gets involved with a shyster named Creighton Tolliver (Jon Polito) who tries to sell him a stake in a dry cleaning business. He also seeks help from the barber shop owner Frank (Michael Badalucco), who agrees to help fund him through mortgaging his business.

The film follows Ed’s slow deterioration and the events that break his spirit and bring him to an understanding that the only thing that’s kept him sane is his friend’s child piano prodigy Birdy (Scarlett Johansson). It examines the mental pitfalls of a chain of poor, desperate decisions that ultimately collapse the man’s soul.

Writers Joel and Ethan Coen have crafted a strange, but satisfying group of circumstances and troubles to follow one, lonely man. Their script is tight and unswerving in its depressing realism. Set during the 1950s, the use of black-and-white helps crystallize the true one-sidedness of the situations.

The brothers Coen may as well carry the last name of Grimm as the more films they make, the more a pattern develops in their projects. Each one takes a moral lesson and twists it through their very dark, somewhat comedic takes on life itself.

This time around, a phenomenal cast and some great technicians support them. Thornton is superb as the lead character, a man haunted by his own present. He plays the role with more restraint than many of his earlier roles, a welcome relief for those who are familiar with his previous work. Likewise, Coen darling McDormand is less abrasive than her turn in “Almost Famous,” but plays the unsympathetic wife with great relish.

Gandolfini and Badalucco, television actors from “The Sopranos” and “The Practice” respectively, turn their high profile small screen careers into big screen triumphs. Also from the small screen, Shalhoub (NBC’s “Wings”) is startlingly clever as the vicious, unscrupulous attorney who causes more trouble than he helps.

Behind the actors is a talented array of technicians who help mold the black-and-white background that holds the characters’ attentions. Cinematographer Roger Deakins is the chief recipient of the film’s praise. If it weren’t for his crisp, three-dimensional photography, a lot of the dark subtext might otherwise be lost. Additionally, each shot feels like it was drawn directly from the era it was set in. Much of this praise go to production designer Dennis Gasner and costume designer Mary Zophres who craft a perfect environment for the movie’s action.

While “The Man Who Wasn’t There” contains many traditional conceits of the Coen style, it steers away only slightly, making it a far more enjoyable film than their previous outings “Miller’s Crossing” and “Raising Arizona.” The film will appeal to more artistic-minded audiences, but will definitely be enjoyed by any fans of the brothers Coen.

Review Written

April 10, 2002