Behold, Harry here to watch Capone fellate the brothers...
Hey Harry. Capone here. The Coen Brothers. Just typing it makes me smile, because I know that whatever they put before my eyes will be utterly different than everything else I’ve seen since their last film. I wasn’t a gigantic fan of O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU, but I’ll give it many points for trying and for a stellar performance by George Clooney. THE MAN WHO WASN’T THERE is something of a departure for the Wizards of Odd. For one thing, the film may be one of the most beautiful black-and-white films I’ve ever seen, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
Living in a community in northern California during the summer of 1949, Ed Crane (the stoic Billy Bob Thornton) works as a barber for his brother-in-law, Frank (Michael Badalucco). Ed leads about the most depressingly normal life imaginable. He cuts hair, goes home, eats dinner, goes to bed. His sultry wife, Doris (Frances McDormand; yes, I said “sultry”), works as a bookkeeper at a local department store run by Dave Brewster (James Gandolfini). It’s clear that the two are having an affair, and at first we believe that Ed doesn’t really care. On day, Creighton Tolliver (Jon Polito) comes into the barber shop spinning a wild tale of an investment opportunity that can’t fail: dry cleaning. He’d come to town to meet with a prospective investor in his business but was turned down flat. After his hair cut, he breezes out of the shop. Later Ed shows up at his hotel room door saying he’d be interested in putting $10,000 into the dry cleaning business. Clearly Tolliver is interested.
When Ed comes home, he types an anonymous note to Brewster stating that he will reveal his affair with Doris is he does not agree to give him $10,000. At a department story party, Dave reveals to Ed that he’s having an affair with a married woman (“You don’t know her,” he lies.) and that he thinks he knows who the blackmailer is (unaware that it’s Ed’s note). I don’t think I can say any more about this film without ruining the first of many wonderful surprises, but suffice it to say, THE MAN WHO WASN’T THERE is a masterpiece. Mixing elements of film noir (beginning with the fact that everybody smokes in this movie), Coen Brothers-style dark humor (perhaps their darkest), and David Lynch-ian bouts of dreamy weirdness, THE MAN WHO WASN’T THERE kept me in suspense, stitches, and stunning silence all the way through. Just when you think you see where things are going, they go to another planet. For example, Doris is arrested at one point and during her absence Ed finds comfort in the lovely piano playing of a neighbors daughter (Scarlett Johansson). Where is that potential Lolita-like relationship going to go? I’m not telling. And we haven’t even gotten to the later scenes with the fantastic Tony Shalloub as Freddy Riedenschneider, the greatest (and fastest talking) criminal defense lawyer in California, if he does say so himself. The film has a dozen of the most finely crafted characters I’ve seen all year, starting with Ed Crane. Billy Bob Thornton disappears into this role, as he usually does, but the things he is capable of conveying while barely blinking his eyes are nothing short of miraculous. And he’s funny to boot.
But at its core, THE MAN WHO WASN’T THERE is a crime drama with dark secrets lurking everywhere. The use of shadows and light alone in this film warrants the formation of some sort of film school whose sole purpose is to force every studio to make nothing but black-and-white movies. It was great to see Thornton create his most memorable character since SLING BLADE, Frances McDormand be sexy (and not in an obvious, corny way; she’s really hot here!), and so many of the Coens regulars back in action. Nothing about this film let me down; it all works. This is what it has all been leading up to. Run don’t walk, etc.
Capone (The bid for my BUTT-NUMB-A-THON Extra Ticket Starts at $250!!! Click here with your bid or comments!)
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Steve@theMovies
