|
|
|
The Man Who Wasn't There
***
Cinema
Releases - August 24, 2001
Rated on a 4-star scale. Certificate 15. 116
minutes. Directed by Joel Coen. Written by Ethan Coen, Joel Coen. Starring
Billy Bob Thornton, Frances McDormand, James Gandolfini, Tony Shalhoub, Katherine
Borowitz, Peter Schrum, Jon Polito, Scarlett Johansson.
The Coen Brothers' "The Man Who Wasn't There"
stars Billy Bob Thornton as a small-town California barber in the
1950s, married to a woman he never really knew very well, and stuck in a
life that doesn't really interest him very much. He narrates the story of
a year or so in which all manner of nasty stuff happened, including him killing
his wife's boss and seeing her getting arrested for the crime. And there's
a lot more sordid stuff than that, but I don't want to spoil
anything.
Everything in this movie happens at the speed
of a turtle, with the absurd humour and macabre turns of events oozing from
the screen rather than exploding in some kind of mad comic rush. The Coens
have made movies with leisurely paces before ("Miller's Crossing"), as well
as films that are fast as lightning ("Raising Arizona"). They are comfortable
working at whatever pace suits their material, and here the unrushed mood
is perfect for the Thornton character.
This is a guy who observes things silently, brooding
and chain-smoking while the world goes about its business. He doesn't see
the need in talking too much, moving too much, or getting too worked up about
things, whatever they may be. What's curious is the way we pick up so much
about him without even realising it, just from his little observations on
the voice-over, his cagey manner, his way of thinking, and the things he
doesn't say. Billy Bob Thornton is an intrinsically interesting
actor, and this strange guy is not just amusing, but well developed and
fascinating.
The movie itself is a stylish piece of work, shot
in black and white with odd, captivating atmosphere and production design;
it's kind of a cross between a 1940s film noir and a satire of banal 1950s
America. The plot goes down some interesting, involving avenues, and they're
mixed in nicely with the comic oddities, which include an unnerved prison
doctor who visits Thornton to deliver some bad news, Stanley Tucci as an
idiosyncratic lawyer, and a wedding scene in which Frances McDormand insults
the happy couple and Peter Schrum wins a pie-eating contest. "The Man Who
Wasn't There" is nowhere near as ambitious as the Coens' last movie, "O Brother
Where Art Thou?", but it's less of a mess and ultimately more
entertaining.
COPYRIGHT©
2001 Ian Waldron-Mantgani
2001 Reviews
(alphabetical)
2001 Reviews (by star
rating)
Archive of all cinema reviews
(alphabetical)
Review Archive
Index
UK
Critic main page
|
|
![[Image]](http://www.ukcritic.com/posbanr2.gif)