Rating: 
Summary: unwatchable
Review: can't begin to express my dislike for this carwreck of a movie. I love the coens films ALL except this sad,tried and boring piece of wasted talent and time. It begins as we see a loveless marriage surrounded by unlikable people in unblievable situations.
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad for an empty exercise in style
Review: Six years ago the Coen brothers released "Fargo," their most well-received movie. This movie had a number of successors, the most prominent of them being Sam Raimi's "A Simple Plan," and this movie. Ostensibly these movies are about the theme that one should not cut moral corners to easy wealth, because inevitably you will pay for the consequences of your actions. In fact, the real message of these movies was that you shouldn't cut moral corners to easy wealth because as poor ignorant WASP trash you will inevitably make a botch of it. If it was up to people like the Coen brothers, they would do a much better job of it. (And indeed such a successful scheme is at the centre of the Coens' amusing "The Big Lebowski.") Here the message of this particular movie is that you shouldn't cut moral corners if you intend to spend your life sleepwalking through it. As Ed Crane, Billy Bob Thornton does a tremendous job adding depth and complexity to a person who in the script is either an idiot or a puppet. Whereas the classic noirs often dealt with men who were lead astray by intense passions ("Double Indemnity" comes to mind), the Coens have, somewhat amusingly, provided us what a hero who cannot be bothered to make an effort. Two of the four deaths of this movie could have been avoided if Crane had tried to make a little effort. Stuart Klawans in the Nation made the intriguing suggestion that Crane was a deeply closeted homosexual. Perhaps, since Crane's marriage is clearly sexless, but, as is so often the case in Coen movies, his conduct is not incompatible with a very flagrant marionette. Like Fargo, and indeed like A Simple Plan, the Man who Wasn't There is gloriously shot, yet the effect is manipulative. One is not portraying 1950 California, one is not trying to picture something real or an interesting vision, instead the Coens are saying, "look, how brilliantly imitative our pastiche/parody of film noir movies are!" (Shots of Doris Crane is prison are particularly flagrant of this effect.) Tony Shalhoub is actually quite good as the Crane's pompous and expensive lawyer, and there are some amusing shots, including one of the funniest ever made of a car crash. But consider the young teenager whom Crane is attracted to and whose musical career he encourages. It is all too typical of the Coens that she is no more and never will be more than competent, and that Crane was foolish to encourage her hopes. There are a couple of scenes in which Crane and his wife Doris actually show signs of affection towards each other. One, the more prominent and less successful, occurs where Crane is shaving Doris' legs in the bathtub. The second occurs as a flashback when Doris brushes aside an irritating salesman. It is almost enough to make one believe that the Coens are showing some feeling for their puppet. And yet one considers that this just vindicates their icy sense of control, a drop of sugar in their arsenic. This movie reflects their amorality, since how can their be a moral core to the movie when Crane barely makes any decisions and arguably shows no real conscience? At least they are playing other people's moralism for laughs. A further comment on irony and its uses. One could argues that Paul Verhoeven's "Starship Troopers" was even sicker than "Showgirls," since whereas the latter was just cynical pornography, the former "ironically" glamorized a quasi-fascist state, made by a director who had experienced the brutal Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. Likewise J.Hoberman pointed out the unplesantness of a cringing Jewish homosexual begging for his life in "Miller's Crossing," in a grove as bucolic as any in Poland. Meanwhile at the height of the Holocaust, "Barton Fink" shows the clash between a foolish, pompous, condescending Jewish radical and a crass, vulgar, megalomianical Jewish movie director. The Coens are people who are buzzed by their own nihilism. As such works go this is not truly offensive, and is not bad for a fundamentally empty exercise in style.
Rating: 
Summary: A nice change for TMWWT
Review: Though this was a slow paced movie, in my opinion, it was very well written
and all of the characters combined to make this film receive 4/5. Billy Bob Thornton plays a depressed married man who is second-chair in a Barber shop. Quite content at cutting the hair off people without the 'razzle-dazzle' in which his brother-in-law Frank does superbly ( played by Michael Badalucco ), he suddenly is pushed into a surreal situation. A bald guy walks into the shop wanting a trim and there begins his story of unparralled series of mishaps. It is heavily narrated by Ed Crane ( played by Billy Bob Thornton ) and it is obvious as to why it is so at the end of the movie. Without giving anything away, it will make perfect sense why this is the case. Set in the 1940's and filmed in Black and While, it is uniquely filmed and has a great character base. Everyone has a roll to play in this movie which helps it unwind and unravel as time goes along and each putting in a performance which generates a true interest in the movie. Some people may not like this movie and I probably wouldn't blame them. It starts off very slowly and doesn't really pick up the pace, however, given that the script is written to perfection it does compensate itself well. Finally, it is one of those movies you either love or loathe. I liked it and I'm sure many will - but comsumer, beware. If you after some type of gangster movie with guns and cars then think again. In fact, dont' bother with this movie. It is well written with a dark insight to a man who just was in the wrong spot at the wrong time - so it would seem. Overall, it didn't really have the climax I was after at any time during the movie, however, I'll definately give it 4/5.
Rating: 
Summary: Superb Writing in Top 5 Film of 2001
Review: What a difference fresh, original, brilliant screenwriting can make to a film. The Coen Brothers score big with this noir style film set in post WWII small town USA. In Billy Bob Thornton's best role and acting job since "Slingblade," he inhabits every corner of the work as Ed Crane, a barber who is being betrayed by his wife Doris and friend, Big Dave. Instead of deciding to murder Big Dave though, he comes up with an inventive idea to blackmail him to get even. This blackmail sets in motion a whole chain of events and characters for the rest of the movie, a tour de force of ironic twists and tours down the vicissitudes of life. The supporting cast is outstanding as well with Thornton anchoring the work throughout.
Rating: 
Summary: fairy Average
Review: saw this movie recently&despite the Folks involved in the film it didn't really hit all the way for me.somehow this film reminded me of Steve Martin's "Dead Men Don't Wear Plad".the one line that stood out for me was when the Music Instructor told Billy Bob that Girl who Played Piano just didn't have feeling in Her Playing.He said it's cool to know the Notes but you gotta have feeling.and that speaks on about this film&other parts on the Entertainment Game.this Story was already figured out with the first half hour.not as deep as it should have been.interesting to a certain point though.
Rating:
Summary: See This Movie.
Review: Hands down the best directing job of the 2001. This movie is awesome and the transfer to DVD is tremendous. BUY IT.
Rating:
Summary: FLIM FLAM NOIR
Review: The gifted Coen brothers dabble in a sly send up of film nor in "THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE." This opulently visual black and white film shimmers in a silver iridescence that belies the corrosive tale of a get rich quick scam that lethally unravels for meek, introspective, non-actualized and barely functional barber Billy Bob Thornton. With terrific attention to detail, this late 40s tale, set in a small town northern California evokes the time and place and essentia of Hitchcock's "Shadow of a Doubt." But with a lot more acerbic humor. The plot is simple: a small town barber dreams of getting in on the ground floor of dry cleaning riches and blackmails a rich guy who's having an affair with his wife. But of course things go very wrong. Billy Bob Thornton is a wonder in a nearly silent, physically still, minimalist role that conjures up images of everyone from Abraham Lincoln to Montgomery Clift. He is terrific with his micro gestures, tiny nods and muscle twitches.... Frances McDormand is his wife and James Gandolfini is her rich lover. Tony Shalhoub is a too glib defense lawyer. Cinematographer Roger Deakins deserves equal star billing with his exquisite lighting. This existential, visual essay, true to a late 40s philosophical mindset, plays with all kinds of post war, post modern, cultural references (flying saucers, Einstein's theory of relativity, Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principal, Nabokov's "Lolita," and of course Colin Wilson's "The Outsider"). This intentionally slow but mesmerizing movie is even more fun when the Coen brothers and Billy Bob break into their very funny commentary track -- a first for the Coens. There's also a great interview with cinematographer Deakins and several funny deleted scenes that focus on hair cutting issues.
Rating:
Summary: Not my favorite Coen brothers movie
Review: Like most movies by Ethan and Joel Coen ["Fargo", "O, Brother, Where Art Thou?", etc.], "The Man Who Wasn't There" has many brilliant elements. It stars Billy Bob Thornton, Frances McDormand and James Gandolfini, none of whom is capable of giving a bad performance, and that's reason enough to see it. Despite all this, I was not bowled over by it the way many critics were. All great filmmakers, from Hitchcock to Scorcese to the Coens, have made movies that were not completely satisfying because one or more elements didn't work. The problem with "The Man Who Wasn't There" is that it runs too long. I agree with the French critic who remarked that he had just spent two hours seeing a ninety minute movie. The movie is set in a 1940s California town. It's one of those places where trouble lies just below its picture perfect surface. Ed [Thornton] is a barber who dreams of being something else. One day a stranger comes into the shop and claims that he is looking for investors for a chain of dry cleaning stores. Ed sees his chance, but where is he going to get the money? He suspects that his wife [McDormand] is having an affair with her boss [Gandolfini]. He decides to blackmail the guy. The idea works, but then people start dying. Ed and his wife get caught up in a web of deceit. Ed becomes the right man charged with the wrong crime. The story jumps around in time. In certain parts, you're not sure if you are seeing reality or Ed's fantasies and memories. Close attention is required, although, in the end, there are no great revelations. This is basically a typical film noir thriller that uses much flashier techniques than those used in the old days. The Coens' big cinematic tricks in "The Man Who Wasn't There" is that it's in black and white. It was shot in color, which was later desaturated. The look is interesting -- sharper and more contrasted than true black and white films. Great acting and exquisite photography can't always mask weaknesses in a film's script. If the Coens had been able to tighten and focus the screenplay, this would have been a great movie, rather than a good one. Still, the Coens are to be commended for always trying to redefine the boundaries of commercial filmmaking. Even when one of their movies doesn't impress me, I never stop looking forward to their next project.
Rating:
Summary: The Coen brothers tackle Film Noir and get it right
Review: is a delight to find the Coens in top form and an equal delight to view their take on Film Noir. Billy Bob Thornton stars as a seemingly bland and simple barber named Ed Crane whose life is about to be turned upside down after he discovers his wife is having an affair with her boss.
The film starts off slowly, allowing plenty of time for the mood to develop and seep into the viewer's consciousness. The movie is filmed in black and white, a good choice for a story centered in small town life - and, of course, black and white film helps drive home the film noir mood. This is noir with a capital N, heavy on mood, insinuation and tone. You can almost feel the length of the slow-paced days, the heaviness of the hours as they creep by. Every shadow, every moment is tinged with foreboding.
Some viewers who are used to the fast pace of most films today might be put off by the slow, langourous pace of this one - but they'll be missing a rare, lovely treat of a film. They might also find Billy Bob Thornton's monotone voice and unemotional exterior a bit off-putting but I didn't. He is, after all, playing a man who fades into the woodwork, a man who people forget as soon as he walks out the door.
He is also a man who wants a different life than the one he's been living and sets out to make his dreams come true. Unfortunately, his efforts set off a complicated set of tragedies. Far from making the film dark and depressing (in spite of the black and white) these events reveal the precariousness of everyday life and the mysteries of the heart.
Rating:
Summary: Another Brillian Film From The Coen Brothers
Review: The Man Who Wasn't There is another masterpiece by the C. Brothers. Like most of their previous works of visual arts this film noir is painted with the utmost care by its artists with every nook-ankd-cranny being filled. The acting in this movie is astonishing with Francis McDormand and Billy Bob Thoron each playing their roles with perfection which also includes anyone else in this movie which is why The Man Whos Wasn't There is so great. The Coen Brothers are to movies what Edward Hopper was to the Art world. That being said when one hates a movie why does he feel he needs to write a novel about why he hates it so much.
| 
