Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Frances McDormand, James Gandolfini, Adam Alexi-Malle
Running Time: 1:56
Country: USA
Year: 2001
Web: Official Site
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Ed Crane is absent indeed in The Man Who Wasn't There, the latest film from the Coen brothers. The man that shares Billy Bob Thornton's features traverses the world that surrounds him as such a phantom that nobody notices him. Dull and stripped of all emotion, he is the perfect subject for a black and white film noir.
Crane the neighborhood barber is the prisoner of an insipid life. Married without love to Doris (Frances McDormand), one day he sees the opportunity to escape his destiny while by becoming a business partner in a dry cleaning venture. In order to get the necessary funds, he decides to blackmail Big Dave (James Gandolfini), Doris' boss and with whom she has an extra-marital affair. But obviously, as usual in Coen brothers' films, the plans will not go as planned.
The Man Who Wasn't There is above all an exercise of style. The purpose of the characters, the story and the décor is only to recreate the troubling atmosphere of film noir. The slow rhythm, music and the use of black and white film pay homage to the genre. The use of the light and shadows, a superb photograph and the rigidity of Billy Bob's face combine wonderfully to make each shot an image of the epoch. The film locations, like Old Town Orange in California, reinforce the authenticity of the whole, instead of merely filming on a stage.
The full-length film is therefore not an empty work since it casts an eye full of affection on the America of ordinary people one does not see, but who still have their place in society. Though it certainly shows the banality of their lives, it does not mock them. The characters are neither pathetic, nor crazy. Rather, they are rather the victims of their destiny.
The Man Who Wasn't There is surely one of the Coen brothers darkest films, but also one of most conventional since it voluntarily yields to the rules of a genre. It has neither the eccentricity nor the provocation that made their reputation, nor the fun that made their commercial success. Humor was not forgotten, nor was the irony of fate.
Billy Bob Thornton is perfect in the title role. His coldness is glacial and he renders his character almost transparent, so much is he detached. Frances McDormand is not outdone, while James Gandolfini (The Sopranos) is undoubtedly at ease between a good mood and toughness.
With The Man Who Wasn't There, the Coen brothers persevere in an eclectic cinematic landscape rather than remaining in the Fargo register; and so much the better.
The Man Who Wasn't There review
