Man Who Wasn't There

Pros: Great cast, Thornton is excellent
Cons: A little too long and too dark

The Man Who Wasn't There is a black and white noir film from the Coen brothers. It is set in 1949 and stars Billy Bob Thornton, Frances McDormand, Tony Shalhoub, Scarlett Johanson, and James Gandolfini. The story combines dark humor with sleazy ...

Pros: Script. Dialogue. Acting.
Cons: The tiniest bit too long.

Categorizing Coen brothers movies is no easy chore. When mulling over concepts like: 'Fargo', 'O Br ...

Pros: A visual masterpiece with great acting and writing
Cons: None

I always laugh when a movie begins in a theatre and it becomes obvious that it was filmed in black and white. Invariably there are groans and moans of "Ugh, it's not in color."

My reaction is just the opposite. As a serious amateur...

Pros: The Coens Writing & Directing, Cast, Deakins Cinematography, Everything Else.
Cons: A Few Minor Quirks that Doesn't Work.

One of the most celebrated duos in independent films, the Coen Brothers of Joel and Ethan helped shape the eccentricities and uniqueness of independent films through their movies. From 1985's Blood Simple to quirky comedies like 1987's ...

Pros: Brilliantly etched performances, superb direction, clever script
Cons: The audience is kept emotionally detached from the characters

Film-makers Joel and Ethan Coen score again with this pulpy film noir gem set in Santa Rosa, a small Northern California town, in the summer of 1949.

Billy Bob Thornton plays Ed Crane, a pensive, laconic barber working for his...

Pros: Billy Bob Thornton's Oscar-worthy performance as Everyman. Roger Deakin's cool black and white photography.
Cons: THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE, in its existential analysis of America, may be too cool.

Most Americans (men, anyway) -- let's paraphrase Henry David Thoreau -- live lives of quiet desperation. We go along to get along. We follow the path of least resistance. We get an education or take a job for the money.

Statistically, we...

Pros: Freddy Riedenschneider: White Johnny Cochran
Cons: Existential Whining

Personal Rant:

All of you bitter scrunched nose, bent brow, saggy-frowned, sniveling, smirking, sneering post-modern pseudo-intellects with scholarly allusions bulging in your pants loved this movie. I know you did. I can hear you...

Pros: After "Bandits" it's good to see Thornton in a WELL WRITTEN movie
Cons: The ending is is dark and gloomy...hey, that's not a con...it's meant to be!!

The Coen brothers are back with this film noir set in 1949 Santa Rosa Cal. I've been a huge admirer of their work ever since 1991's "Barton Fink" and of course their 1996 masterpiece "Fargo" (which is probably my favourite movie). What the Coen...

Pros: brilliant filmmaking, very interesting story structure
Cons: a bit cold

The measured, perfect notes of a Beethoven sonata, played with skill yet lacking in passion, is not only the soundtrack of the recent homage to noir by the Coen brothers (Joel and Ethan Coen) it’s one of the overarching themes of The Man Who Wasn’t...

Pros: McDormand and Thorton, Not very predictable, directing
Cons: Sort of drags out toward the ending.

The wildly imaginative Joel and Ethan Coen have done it again. These brothers, who have written and directed nine films, including "Fargo," "O Brother, Where art Thou?" and "The Big Lebowski," have proven to have a unique sense of style. Their films are...

Pros: A good script, great ensemble acting, dark and subtle comedy.
Cons: A slow-burner that requires a bit of patience, but ultimately satisfying.

This movie is by the Coen brothers, the duo that gave us the brilliant Fargo. And like that movie, The Man Who Wasn't There is a dark comedy of errors, done in a film noir style, in black and white, which intensifies the darkness of the story. ...

Pros: A provocative and unshrinking moral challenge.
Cons: The ending is very pessimistic.

Masterful film stylists Joel & Ethan Coen's new film, The Man Who Wasn't There, contains adultery, blackmail, murder, "pansies" (not the flower), embezzelment, pedophilia, hangings, viscious beatings, and electric chair capital punishment.
...

Pros: Beautiful, amazing cinematography, noirish feel, Thornton, Gandolfini etc
Cons: None

Only the Coen brothers could intermingle existentialism, film noir, UFO’s, piano prodigies, fortunetellers and barbers into a compelling piece of cinematic art. The Man who Wasn’t There is a stylish, sometimes languishing, but never dull look at how...

Pros: Acting, directing, cinematography, etc., etc., etc.
Cons: A final third that offers Coen Bros. weirdness, which may turn off some

There's a lot of talk about Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle here, which would seem out of place, quantum mechanics and cinema not being usual bedfellows. But the Coen Bros., odd boys that they are, fit thing together nicely. And Heisenberg's theory,...

Pros: Every breathtaking frame.
Cons: Questionable use of voiceover, and the pace MIGHT throw some people off.

Two life-altering movies within the span of two months? Well, it is humanly possible to see yet another astounding piece of art following Richard Linklater's masterpiece, "Waking Life." The directors of this extraordinary film are the Coen...