There are no words...
A
beautifully peaceful film noir with yet another
amazing performance from Billy Bob Thornton. The
Coen brothers create a stylish and quietly
powerful film about a solemn and thoughtful man
whose life gets much more complicated than he
ever anticipated or hoped.
The Coen brothers slyly joked in a recent
interview that this film, set in the late
1940's, is about a man named Ed Crane who is a
barber that wants to get into dry cleaning.
While that may be literally true on the surface,
this film has many deeper layers. Ed Crane
(Thornton) is a quiet man, a barber, who goes to
work, cuts the hair, and returns home to a wife
he is sure is cheating on him. He doesn't much
care about her cheating, he doesn't seem to be
bothered by anything... he is a very passive
man. Ed watches and listens, but tunes most of
it out and is consumed by his own rambling
thoughts.
One day, a man proposes a new revolutionary way
to clean clothes... dry cleaning. Intrigued by
the prospect, Ed decides to come up with the
$10,000 in order to finance the project. With
the knowledge of his wife's affair with her boss
at the local department store, he decides to
blackmail the boss for the ten grand. This sets
in to motion a chain of events that results in
three deaths and two court trials. I won't
reveal the details, but Ed narrates us through
the messy story, calmly observing but never
really participating much.
There are two things I will vividly remember
from this film, the cinematography and a
mesmerizing performance from Billy Bob Thornton.
Roger Deakins' black and white photography is
some of the most beautiful in recent film
history. Every detail on every face, billowing
smoke and dust and particles of cut hair,
shadows and shapes... all of these things are
accentuated by beams of light that cascade like
those in classic film noir. This is a
spectacular looking movie.
Billy Bob Thornton must now be established as
one of the best of our day. Most of his work
here seems to consist of looking broodish and
sad while smoking silently on his filterless
cigarette... but it is so much more nuanced than
that. He conveys the knowing and the feeling of
a man who is above it all, who can observe
calmly over the most harrowing of situations.
Nothing phases him, he just gently nods in
acceptance of whatever just took place.
The Coen brothers are famous for their dark
humor and it is so viciously evident again in
"The Man Who Wasn't There." They can make you
laugh hysterically at the most serious of
moments. Note the line when Birdy (Scarlet
Johansson) says to him, "You're an enthusiast."
Consider the scene when Ed wrecks the car. Both
are very funny moments. The line "I'm an
attorney, you're a barber, you don't know
anything." made me laugh more that any line you
care to choose from any of the recent 'teen
comedies'. The Coens are masters of dark comic
timing.
The rest of the cast is stunning... not a wrong
note struck by any of the other characters. The
score is soft and delicate and thoughtful and
touching. Oh, yeah, and the plot is
unpredictable and intriguing in ways you haven't
seen before. The final third of the film is some
of the most inspired filmmaking of the past ten
years.
I will concede that the story drags a little
during the middle third of the film and could
probably have been trimmed here and there so we
could arrive at the brilliant conclusion a tad
faster. Some viewers, whose attention may
already be waning from the lackadaisical but
deliberate pace, will find it hard to avoid a
critical and desperate look at their
wristwatches.
You'll love it if you like... 1940's Film Noir -
Fargo - Hard Eight - A Simple Plan.
This film will become a classic over the course
of time and it has one of the best last lines I
have ever heard.
©
Written by TC Candler
Richard
Propes' Comment
The Coen Brothers have crafted a film that
accomplishes great things in a quiet manner.
This film doesn't have the quirkiness of some of
their films, or the goofiness of others. In some
ways, it requires the viewer to pay more
attention...to sit still, listen and observe the
goings on. The reward for being willing to do so
is quite great. This film is a joy.
Jacob
Hall's Comment
n/a
