Review of The Man Who Wasn't There (2001) by Anna L — 20 Sep 2012

Another great film by the Coen Brothers that made me an official fan. The Man Who Wasn't There brings the film noir genera to a great extent. But I actually don't think film noir should be a genera but a style.

From the concept of positive and negative to the femme fatales. That's the thing I like the best about film noir the femme fatale. My favorite actress Scarlett Johansson is the femme fatale in this so I can't complain.

Her role in this was minor but was an important part in bringing the film to a close. The writing was really good. You have to love the Coen's writing style. From dull humor to out of no where ending the film.

I've noticed that it's easy to tell if the Coen brothers wrote it because all there films have the same writing style. This film especially is twisty in it's plot structure. It involves a case and criminal cases can be twist around.

It's basically, this person did it, this person takes the blame, at the end the person that did commit the original crime gets caught committing another crime that he didn't do. I know it's weird so it fits the Coen's witty taste.

The acting by Billy Bob Thornton was very memorable. He gave the character Ed Crane a dull and alienated image. Alienation is the main theme in the film. You can tell by his actions and dialogue. For example, Ed Crane is a barber and he mentions, why do people cut off there hair.

It's almost as if he doesn't understand human nature. Towards the end he sees a UFO and nodes to it as if he knows them. As if they aren't aliens to him. The production values are acceptable.

This is in black and white just like the classic film noir titles. I really liked the cinematography. Film noir has to have good cinematography otherwise the style doesn't work. Of course the direction by the Coens was fascinating.

I really liked how they directed the murder scene. Once James Gandolfini's character went down I couldn't believe he kept bleeding. Although not really that original this is a great addition to the film noir style and a must for Coen fans.