Man Who Wasn't There (The)

Genre: psychological drama
Director: Joel Coen
Release: 2001
Studio: Working Title Films, USA Films, Mike Zoss Productions – October Films, USA Films
Rating: R
MBiS score: 8.1/10


For Once, It’s The Barber Who Gets The Itch


The time is 1949 and the place, Santa Rosa, California. Ed Crane (Billy Bob Thornton), a barber by trade and a taciturn by nature, lives quietly with his wife Doris (Frances McDormand), an accountant for Big Dave Brewster (James Gandolfini) at Nirdlinger’s department store. On the surface, you could argue that life is sweet for the Cranes but, true to the old saying about still waters running deep, Ed’s juices will begin stirring when businessman Creighton Tolliver (Jon Polito) comes to town. Tolliver is looking for a partner and Ed soon gets the urge to join him. Unfortunately, there’s a drawback in Tolliver’s proposal: to play the capitalism game with him, you gotta have capital. With Michael Badalucco (Frank Raffo), Tony Shalhoub (Freddie Riedenschneider), Katherine Borowitz (Ann Nirdlinger) and Scarlett Johansson (Rachel ‘Birdy’ Abundas). Screenplay by Ethan and Joel Coen.

As filmmakers go, the Coen brothers are neither revolutionaries nor iconoclasts but, in my mind, they are certainly off-kilter. Their films don’t quite fit into the industry mould and their original storytelling keeps you guessing from beginning to end. In the comedy genre, they have shown brilliance in RAISING ARIZONA and THE BIG LEBOWSKI, two favourites of mine. In a dramatic vein, they can also deliver startling films like NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. Here, heavy-duty irony is the brothers’ modus operandi and, though they have sprinkled Ed’s tortuous – and torturous – journey through life with touches of humour, THE MAN WHO WASN’T THERE is a predominantly solemn film that feels oppressive, even claustrophobic.

To act out their dark screenplay, the Coens relied on a solid cast that delivers handsomely, with Billy Bob Thornton as the mainstay, I believe. The brothers have also chosen to use black and white film for the production, a process that enhances the noirish elements of Ed’s not so excellent adventure. The resulting movie feels lean, sober, unadorned, like those simple songs that have withstood the test of time and become our cherished classics.

For now, there is little else to say about THE MAN WHO WASN’T THERE except to recommend it without reservations. As Ed himself would put it, ‘Me, I don't talk much... I just cut the hair.’


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