The Man Who Wasn’t There is a beautifully twisted 1940s noir by the Coen Brothers, who really should get a royalty check every time a film claims itself to be beautifully twisted. They have a profound understanding of the balance between going over the top and adequately telling a story that really starts “Hey guys, you’re not gonna believe this…” Though not perfect films, they have the ability to create memorable tales with even more memorable characters with just enough of their signature slipped in there to make it clear that “yep, that’s a Coen film.”
This film is no different, sitting you down and draping you in a veil of blackmail and murder under the careful cloth of lowly barber Ed Crane (Billy Bob Thornton) who plays a role I honestly can’t picture anyone else in. Ed is guilty of the crime of living in a society that has no place for him. Everything about him operates on just enough cylinders to get by. He’s boring and he’s bored. He doesn’t talk much, he doesn’t aspire to great things, doesn’t really have friends, he just kinda… …
He works for his brother in law not because he has a passion for hair cutting but because it gets him what he needs to survive, and it doesn’t require him to be more than he is. He lives every day like it’s the same day of his life.
That is until a sleezy businessman rolls into town and starts spouting off the amazing world of “Dry Cleaning” and how he missed an opportunity to partner up with some asshole who’d rather spend $10,000 on expansion efforts for his own company than try a risky venture that’s sure to be the wave of the future. This “asshole” is Ed’s wife’s boss, “Big Dave” (James Gandolfini) who is possibly having an affair with her, which would be easy because he runs the department store she works at.
This little conversation triggers something in Ed, something that makes him want to achieve more, not be so content with mediocrity, finally feel like the world notices him and, as a result, he devises a very simple plan to blackmail “Big Dave” for the money to be a partner, using “Big Dave’s” affair as leverage. Originally working without a hitch, Ed is pleased with things until his sleezy business partner disappears, he has to kill “Big Dave,” and his wife takes the fall because nobody would believe, even if he confessed it, that Ed is anything more than a barber. It’s like he doesn’t exist.
Playing into the vibe of the classic noir, The Man Who Wasn’t There is dark; it tells the feelings of the characters through monotone narration, cleverly crafted to give the audience all the secrets they need to put themselves in the mind of the mastermind. The twist and turns are surprising not just because you don’t see them coming, but because you ask yourself “well, now what?”
Like a good Coen flick, the basic premise is VERY basic, but gains complexity as the characters act on an instinct that likes to over-complicate things. It’s like taking a 4 piece puzzle, ripping it into a thousand tiny pieces and saying “that’s what we have to fix up” while the protagonist stares at the box saying “thanks, dickwads.” It just has a good feel about it, Billy Bob Thornton looks and acts like a Tourette’s patient trying to hold to a vow of silence. I wanted to watch him explode, but he doesn’t. He can’t. He’s just kinda… …
Also like a classic noir, the score was practically non-existent, which I hate having to bring up if it’s nothing noticeable…but I breathed a little sigh of relief. This is the kind of movie that I wouldn’t have mattered if the whole thing were in fucking piano (I’ve decided I get two days to be pissed at a movie if something about it drove me crazy). All in all, fantastic watch, nice and easy, like turning on the cruise control as you drive through a crowded circus. I give it a solid 8 dustbusters out of 10, not really the “holy crap experience” I like in movies, but I will not be afraid to spend another night with this on the screen. Well done boys, well done.
No comments:
Post a Comment