Rating: 
Summary: Much too good for a mere review.
Review: This is quite an odd and wonderful film, and the problem with writing a review about it is in giving too much away. It was not in very wide theatrical release, and the reviews were sort of mixed, so when it popped up on the Sundance Channel the other night, I didn't really know quite what to expect. I'm VERY glad I took the time to watch. "The Man Who Wasn't There" is, first and foremost, a GORGEOUS film in crisp, glorious black and white. The plot, with all its unexpected yet believable twists and turns, includes bits of offbeat humor, a glimpse of the afterlife, slightly shocking violence, metaphysical observations, and hubcaps from outer space. Sound a bit too weird? Don't be put off. By the time you've reached the utterly sublime ending of this strange tale, you'll agree that "The Man Who Wasn't There" is one of the Coen Brothers' best films. Maybe not a crowd-pleaser like "Fargo" or "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou," but in its own right a concise, exquisite love letter of a film from Joel and Ethan to us.
Rating: 
Summary: Plot Question - please help!
Review: I enjoyed this film and thought it was beautiful, but had some problems with it. I don't think the Coens are smart enough to pull this off completely.My question is, what happened to the $10,000? If Big Dave beat the truth out of "the pansy" and killed him, why didn't he take the cash back? Also, why would Ed write his account for the "men's magazine" for money when he's about to die in the electric chair? What's he got planned for the cash?
Rating:
Summary: outstanding DVD
Review: ... THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE is *by far* the Coens' most sophisticated, nuanced, unified and rewarding film to date. about the DVD--awesome video transfer for a film that requires big-screen viewing to fully appreciate its beauty, audio transfer of Carter Burwell soundtrack is just as good. The commentary track shared between Thornton and the two Coens is relaxed, funny, and insightful; they sprinkle anecdotes while still leaving plenty of open room for your personal interpretation of this film. Wonderful ~45min interview with cinematographer Roger Deakins talking about the color stock>black & white film processing, lighting, on-set stories, and the creative process of working with [his words] "poets" like Joel and Ethan Coen. A separate ~15min 'making-of' briefly interviews Frances McDormand, Billy Bob Thornton, James Gandolfini, Michael Badalucco and Tony Shalhoub--a deleted scene of [Shalhoub as] lawyer Freddy Riedenschneider's courtroom jury address is also included. ...
Rating: 
Summary: Boring!
Review: Boring! Every 15 minutes or so I thought to myself "OK, the movie is going to get good! The movie is going to get good". I don't know how to describe it other than an extremely well done bad movie. A lot of its technical qualities are excellent, it has some good writing, etc.. The Coen brothers put a lot a care in re-creating America, 1950s. They did a fine job and getting where they were going, it is their destination that I don't agree with. The movie is very depressing, the characters are mostly completely deadpan, and the movie drags on longer than it should.
Rating:
Summary: a correction: Beethoven's Pathetique, not Moonlight
Review: Contrary to what one of my fellow reviewers wrote (in one of the "Featured Reviews" for me), the Beethoven sonata featured in the movie is not "Moonlight", it is "Pathetique" (more specifically, the second movement). Less well known, but every bit as beautiful. Also featured, to great effect, in "A Boy Named Charlie Brown" and quoted in Billy Joel's "This Night".
Rating:
Summary: the man
Review: What can I say, The man was not there!
Rating:
Summary: Man Who Wasn't There never gets there
Review: The Coen brothers have made some of my favorite movies, but this one never goes anywhere. It comes off as a movie that the Coen brothers are trying to slide by you, after all Billy Bob is the star, and isn't Billy Bob just the actor's actor? And it's black and white - so it must be arty. This movie is heavy and dark, and my feeling and experience is that the Coen brothers don't do just plain dark very well. While usually their darker comedies are richly absurd, this one is just, well, absurd. And tedious.
Rating:
Summary: Coens strongest effort so far
Review: Not being a big fan of the Coens or Billy Bob Throton, i was very pleasnatly suprised by this film, The acting from everyone was excellent, and Thorton for once seems to have stopped his excessive overacting (bandits). The film is decidedly understated, and it works very well with the subject matter, the plot slowly develops, with some ineteresting little turns and observations. This film is that rarety an American film which could almost be a european film.
Rating:
Summary: What were the Coen Brother's Thinking???
Review: What on earth were they thinking...with such films as "Raising Arizona," "Fargo," and "O Brother Where art Thou?" under their belts you'd expect more from the Brother Coen! And Billy Bob, oh Billy Bob, what were you thinking? "Sling Blade," "Monsters Ball" - come on!!! What a dreary, unfunny (granted the Coens are not your typical funny - but come on with lines like "Oph. My Hair" and "Is that your friend in the woodchipper." they could have done better), boring, put you to sleep film! YUCK! But...they are after all the Coen Brothers and they will bounce back and I am a die hard fan! They'll do better next time...just not this one!
Rating:
Summary: You can see the wires
Review: One of the reasons I love Joel & Ethan Coen's films is the way they subversively explore the "big questions" (meaning and meaninglessness, fate versus chance, life, death, morality, redemption, and justice) in stories that are strange, madcap, and sometimes even slapstick. Each of their films also seems to be a combination homage and satire on tropes of older movies. Blood Simple is a Hitchcock film, The Hudsucker Proxy is a Capra film, etc. In each of their earlier films, a certain twisted sense of humor keeps you from noticing the heavyweight intellectual and philosophical issues until they percolate up from the immensely satisfying feeling of entertainment that is the first after effect of the movie. Not so here. This film is a beautiful film-noir. In every way it is true to the genre. The mood is similar to Mildred Pierce or Double Indemnity. The problem for me is the "big questions" intrude noticably. For the first time, the Coen's made me feel like they were lecturing me. They seem to have forgotten the stunning message from the end of Barton Fink (their other rather heavy-going, but more on-target movie): They need John Goodman storming down a flaming hotel corridor shouting "I'll show you the life of the mind!" They are being a bit Barton Fink-ish here. It may be that this starkness of idea is intentional. It is consistent with the stark narrative and the stark photography. It is consistent with the noir. But it lifted me out of the story, so one star is knocked off for me. If you are a Coen brothers fan, you will want this movie and you will enjoy it and it will hold your interest. But this is not the movie to show someone who has never seen a Coen brtoher movie. They will wonder what all the fuss is about. Start them out with Raising Arizona or O, Brother! Where Art Thou? or the sadly underappreciated The Hudsucker Proxy. These movies sneak their big ideas in under a broad, funny, entertaining experience. If you want to wallow in your existentialism, hang out with philosophy grad students. Or see The Man Who Wasn't There.
| 
