Rating of
3.5/4
The Man Who Wasn't There review
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 02/03/12
Ed Crane (Billy Bob Thornton), a suburban barber, married to Doris (Frances McDormand), a bookkeeper in the retail business. "Big Dave" Brewster (James Gandolfini), the boss of Doris, is invited to eat in their place. Ed feels Dave is closer to her wife than he is based on the narration. Frank (Michael Badalucco) explains the dry-cleaning business to Ed during a haircut, who eventually becomes interested in becoming a partner. Ed converses with Birdy Abundas (Scarlett Johansson), a friend's teenage daughter who was playing the piano. Doris becomes a prime suspect in a murder so Ed meets with a lucrative defense attorney named Freddy Riedenschneider (Tony Shalhoub). Ann (Katherine Borowitz), Dave’s wife, visits Ed and reveals something.
The screenplay was fantastic with lines from: Dave – “I’ve been weak.” Ann – “Sometimes knowledge is a curse.” Ed - “It’s all gone now.” “You’re young. You don’t understand.” “Time slows down right before an accident, and I had time to think about things.” “I don’t regret anything.” Freddy – “The more you look, the less you really know.” Thornton really brought his talents in the picture and cinematography is reminiscent of film noir techniques. Its plot was well constructed and themes of human imperfections, trust, unfaithfulness and pursuit for truth portrayed vividly. Only reservations this critic had were the repetitive score, lack of other likeable characters and the sad conclusion. The Man Who Wasn’t There is an outstanding crime drama that is re-watchable.
