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The Man Who Wasn't There

Categorizing Coen brothers movies is no easy chore. When mulling over concepts like: "Fargo", "O Brother, Where Art Thou?", (and for crying out loud) "The Hudsucker Proxy", something as simple as 'Comedy' is not what's popping into your mind. It's no wonder then that "The Man Who Wasn't There" isn't something you can simply refer to as 'film noir'. Knowing what it ought to be labeled is, of course, a trickier thing. 'Mock noir' comes to mind, but that isn't exactly it, and it is perhaps leaning toward 'anti-noir'. ***

There is no grand scheme behind events, though the main character unwittingly sets in motion a chain of events with more twists and turns than the grandest machinations of any force behind a film noir. There is the fairly trademark voice-over narration by the main character, but it turns out he is somehow not really telling his story, because he is simply writing it down for a magazine, and he's pulling in five cents a word. We have our main character's self-analysis, but it's an anti-analysis. Our main character ought to be an anti-hero, but he goes it one step further, and is more of an anti-person. There ought to be a great secret that our hero is outside of, but he even points out to us that he feels the exact opposite. He has a secret, and it distances everyone from him. So it goes. In every way that we might try to describe what makes a 'film noir', this movie puts a spin on it. ***

"The Man Who Wasn't There" is the story of Ed Crane (Billy Bob Thornton). A man who comes as close to not existing as possible. An everyman to some exponential power, Ed muddles along through life with an unshakable ability to simply take whatever comes without interest or complaint. Ed is married to Doris (Coen spouse and staple Frances McDormand), and it is her family's barbershop in which he plies his trade. Doris, hopeful of gaining some status beyond daughter, sister, and wife of barbers, works in the accounting department at the local department store. It's small-town, late-forties California, and the department store is 'big' by comparison. ***

We are soon made aware that Ed suspects his wife of cheating on him with 'Big Dave' (James Gandolfini), the manager of said department store. Though Ed has these suspicions, he plods disinterestedly along, resigned to his fate come what may. When opportunity knocks on Ed's door in the form of a visitor to town with a crazy idea (dry-cleaning), Ed decides to blackmail Big Dave for the $10,000 start-up cost. He writes an anonymous blackmail letter to Big Dave, and goes through the motions with as much emotional charge as he has when he thinks about his wife cheating on him, cuts someone's hair, or listens dazedly to his brother-in-law ramble aimlessly, which is to say, none. ***

Ed's action (if anything he does can be so described) sets in motion an outrageously twisted set of events that in the end will have ruined the lives of nearly everyone involved. Again, something of a wink at noir. Dark and unfortunate as events may be, our end result is not supposed to be the destruction of everything. Fortune, in fact, yet another odd tell of this picture. We expect bad luck. We expect our anti-hero to succumb to some (perhaps ironic) twist of fate. In some sense we have that here, Ed is certainly not the man with the golden touch, but his perspective distorts our contact with fortune. He doesn't (as far as he's concerned) have good luck, or bad luck. He simply has luck, and so be it. His dumbfounded head-nod as he accepts whatever piece of information may come his way is a running gag of the movie, and a sort of character-summarizing non-sequitur. ***

Though there are many ways that this film deviates from traditional film noir, the most obvious, and most important, is simply that it's amazingly funny. It is typical of the style of comedy we expect from the Coens, and thus, much like "Fargo", though it's hilarious you won't find yourself laughing aloud. Also like the Coens' other work, most of the genius is in the dialogue, and most of the attention is given to the visual presentation. The Coens put together a whole package of style that moves the film to transcend itself. Somewhat simple in a sense, if nevertheless intelligent and entertaining (as is all film noir), this movie with its attention to the art of the thing is in a league with greats of the genre (though it may be in a different division). ***

The acting is wonderful from every front, and this is no great surprise as much of the cast is composed of Coen regulars. Billy Bob Thornton especially pulls off an amazing feat in delivering a solid, three-dimensional character. A character, mind you, with virtually no dialogue (apart from narration), who is allowed little change in facial expression, and whose description in the script reads - "Has no character". Tony Shalhoub is still the master of his game, though you'd never be able to accurately define what that game is. Here he plays a defense attorney. The kind of defense attorney who is greatly impressed with himself, butchers the Uncertainty Principle to suit his purposes, and calls a trial "The Big Show". His scenes here have him delivering virtually uninterrupted soliloquies that are just the sort of mindless babble that hoodwinks juries, and in one particularly brilliant scene/speech he gets to dance with the devil in the pale moonlight. ***

The rest of the cast is wonderful as well. James Gandolfini manages to draw us in while given a character that is roughly as interesting as, and less important than, a random clue, slip of the tongue, or any other plot device. Scarlett Johansson ("Ghost World", "The Horse Whisperer") plays, of all things, Ed's personal, potential Lolita, and though she hasn't much time on screen, she manages a surprisingly affecting presence. ***

"The Man Who Wasn't There" bobs and weaves around film noir. Never really getting there (and certainly not trying to), but never really leaving either. It spins and twists on some higher level, just as much as its central plot. It even includes deus ex machina as a device, but it's rejected. Something I don't think I've ever seen before. This is a surefire hit for fans of the Coens, the genre, or simply great film-making.

Overall this is an excellent transfer. The one exception being that occasionally a scene, obviously intended to be dark, seems ever-so-slightly darker than would be ideal. These scenes mask, if to a small degree, the expressions of the characters. In certain scenes this is obviously intended, but a few others it stands out. However, these instances are rare, and we get great visual acuity in all other respects. Like all noir, close-ups, light, and shadow are all strong features, being used to dramatic effect, and we see it vividly. ***

The sound, though perhaps not exactly taking advantage of all Dolby 5.1 has to offer, is excellent. This is a film of subtleties, and the soundtrack often goes almost unnoticed. Burwell's score, at times serviceable, at times nearly magical, follows noir tradition, living largely beneath the senses, enhancing mood rather than trying to create it. ***

This is a film also that lives by its dialogue, much of it all but whispered, and it all comes through sharply.

The special features on the DVD, diverse though they may be, are somewhat lacking. The "Making of" special is really nothing more than short segments of interviews with several cast members, and the Coens, wherein very little of interest is discussed. The cast members talk mostly about how they came to be associated with the picture, and the Coens talk only about how they arrived at the initial ideas for the film. *** The interview with cinematographer Roger Deakins is actually fairly interesting, but focuses mainly on black-and-white filming in general, and doesn't touch on much about this film in particular. Being that Deakins has worked on several Coen movies, there is also much in the way of veering off to other films. ***

The disc also includes one alternate scene, and four deleted scenes, but don't expect much. The alternate scene is a scene of Tony Shalhoub's opening statement to a jury sans Billy Bob's voice-over which masks Shalhoub's dialogue in the film version. Three of the deleted scenes are five second shots of hairstyles, and one is an equally short look at a salad. ***

The disc wraps up the special features with a theatrical trailer and two TV spots, as well as a photo gallery of behind-the-scenes stills, which are actually more interesting than you'd think. On the whole, the special features are rather a disappointment.

A commentary track is available featuring Billy Bob Thornton and the Coens. This particular commentary, like no other, is decidedly hard to judge. You aren't going to get any insights into the plot, or anything else particularly interesting for that matter, and that's frustrating. On the other hand, you do get some interesting asides, and it's often very funny. At one point Billy Bob mentions that when the Coens pitched the movie to him all they said was that it was about a barber who dreams about becoming a dry cleaner, and Coens come back saying that was sort of all they had at first, and oh how people started throwing money at them for that idea. ***

There isn't much that goes beyond behind-the-scenes chatter, with the occasional off-the-wall tangent thrown in, but in its own way it is certainly worth a listen for Coen fans.