Synopsis: A laconic barber (Billy Bob Thornton) in a small California town sees an opportunity to escape from a loveless marriage and his bland life if he can raise $10,000 to invest in dry-cleaning. However, the simple scheme he tries to come up with the money soon backfires and he gradually watches everything in his life fall apart.

Review: As a fan of the Coen Brothers since their first film, Blood Simple, I long ago noticed that they essentially make two types of movies: Quirky Comedies and Noir-ish Dramas. Of course, the lines do cross in all of their films – the Coen Comedies all tend to have a darker side and the Coen Dramas all tend to have some of the quirky comedy in them. So, after two successive Quirky Comedies (The Big Lebowski and Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?), the Coens have made their first Drama since Fargo with The Man Who Wasn’t There. It’s also their first film released in B&W, gorgeously shot by cinematographer Roger Deakins (who also shot great-looking films like A Beauty Mind, Fargo, and The Shawshank Redemption) and their truest attempt to evoke classic Film Noir.

The plot is a typical Noir storyline – a man seeking an escape from his past – but with some typical Coen twists (such as he’s a barber who wants to be a dry-cleaner) and their usual references to older films. There’s an overall similar feel to classic movies such as Double Indemnity and Shadow of a Doubt and the score, comprised primarily of Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas, works very well in capturing a dark, fatalistic mood for the film, which fits the basic theme that a man cannot escape from fate. However, the Coens throw more wrenches into the mix by including references to UFOs in the film and a few eccentric “Coen” characters, such as the dry-cleaning businessman and a French piano instructor.

Billy Bob Thornton is superb as the chain-smoking barber Ed Crane who says little in any actual scenes in the movie, but speaks so much in the voice-over narration that it partially masks his character’s laconic nature. Frances McDormand is also good in the role of Ed’s wife, who seems just as weary of her life as Ed – even though she figures prominently in Ed’s schemes; she’s no film fatale. James Gandolfini (The Sopranos) plays Big Dave, a boisterous type whose violent nature help turn Ed’s schemes – and life – inside out. And Scarlett Johansson (Ghost World) is quite good, effectively evoking Sue Lyon’s Lolita in her scenes in the movie as the daughter of Ed’s lawyer friend and barbershop customer.

One highlight are scenes that pay tribute to some of the great films of the past: there’s an eerily beautiful death scene that echoes a similar and unforgettable scene in Night of the Hunter, a car scene like those from Kubrick’s version of Lolita, and a late sequence reminiscent of A Place In the Sun. The Coen Brothers’ love of great old movies really shows in such homage scenes that remind the viewer of the older films, but are so well-done and integrated into the storyline, that they feel like genuine tributes and not like gratuitous rip-offs.

So, like the other Coen movies, this is a film lover’s film and I loved every minute of it. I doubt the average filmgoer will like it as much, because it is a bit rich and refuses to conform to current lowest-common-denominator standards. But for me, after suffering through so many half-baked movies from Hollywoodland, it’s something special when a great one does come down the pike. As Billy Bob Thornton says about the Coens: “They don’t suck.” Simple words, but the man is right and this movie definitely does not suck.

Film Rating (Epinions Scale): 5/5 stars
Film Rating (Detailed Scale): A [FILM NOIR, MODERN]

DVD Details: This is a pretty feature-packed disc for a Coen Brothers film. The movie is presented in 1.85:1 aspect ratio in a great anamorphically-enhanced transfer with a very subtle Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack (there’s so little surround info in the movie, that it’s a surprise when the rear speakers do kick in). Highlighting the extras is a commentary track of the Coens and Billy Bob Thornton in which they laugh it up quite a bit over Billy Bob’s nearly wordless performance as Ed Crane. I didn’t listen to the whole thing, but it showed signs of being a fun track to the end. There’s also a short documentary on the making of film as well as a series of interviews with the cast that are fairly interesting. The deleted scenes section, however, seemed more like a spoof of deleted scenes because all but one are less than 20 seconds in length (some would be better classified as “deleted shots”). The only extra that I found to be too much was a long interview (~45min!) with the cinematographer, Roger Deakins, which was too much for me, so I baled about a third of the way into it. Although this disc does not have the overwhelming number of extras found in many Special Edition releases, there’s still enough good stuff here for a fan of the film to dig into.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older