Review of The Man Who Wasn't There (2001) by Nathan V — 14 Aug 2011

The Man Who Wasn't There, a film by Joel and Ethan Coen. Now if you know anything about the Coen's you would know that they absolutely love the world of noir. You see this in just about all of there films, wether it's Fargo, A Serious Man, No Country For Old Men, or Barton Fink. These are more neo-noir films which means they are modern day noir. In this film we get a full throwback into the 40's and 50's kind of noir. This film is in the mold of their debut feature "Blood Simple", and I must say this shows that even twenty years later the Coen's have not missed a beat.

This film takes us through essentially the last days of the life of Ed Crane. Ed is a simple man with a simple wife and a simple job as a barber. I won't give any spoilers but after a serious of events Ed finds himself questioning his marriage, his duty towards his business, and more importantly his place in life.

I have seen the film twice now, and I am still unable to find anything wrong with it. There is a whole back story about alien conspiracy, but even that adds to the tone of what life was like in those times, when people blamed all crimes on the aliens. I would not call this my favorite Coen brothers film because I.

Dont think it would have hurt to cut this one down by a few minutes. Noir is a beautiful Genre as well as one of the darkest and the Coen's have shown that this genre wasn't just for the 50's because it is still alive and well today.