The Man Who Wasn't There

[mythuk]

i finally found a cinema in bristol showing this, sheesh! and, well they've done it again, superb. while it's not a laugh out loud funny as, say, Fargo, this is another cracking Cohen Bros effort. It's very noir while being v. funny in places.

highly recommended.

[Disappearer]

I'll second that recommendation. The Coen's never fail to deliver the goods.

[Arch Stanton]

Who else could make a film about a very dull man who's a barber that want's to open a dry cleaning shop, film it in Black and white and get away from it but the Coen Brothers.

It's not as imediate as the last few of thier films and i can't imagine it winning them any more fans.

But if you've already been smitten by the Coen Brother strange world then you should lap it up.

[ethanfox]

Have to disagree, they were way off mark - it didn't go anywhere, lacked a strong narrative and their usual quirkiness in the writing of supporting characters.

Dissapointed.

[Roberto]

But i thought the cinematography was some of the best for years!!

[MARKMAN]

I came away a little disappointed. The Billy Bob Thornton character had a wonderful blank facial expression and for a character that had a monotone voice, he proffered so much character and charisma.

However, the supporting characters were a big let down for me. Whereas normally the Coens' supporting characters are full of life, in this film they were merely wallpaper, and I like to watch their films for the interesting supporting characters.

It will not win any new fans for the Coens', and for me it ranks amongst one of their least "complete" films.

Still good though, just not great.

[theblairwitch]

Very disappointed.

Big fan of the rest of their work but this just did nothing for me. Amazing to look at, good performances - just totally off-the-mark film.

I'm all for a story not having a particularly strong narrative, but as mentioned above the support just doesn't gee the film along - and there was no warmth at all from any of them. I literally didn't care for any of the characters - especially when each were meeting their respective ends - by the end were we supposed to care for Ed at all ?

The sub-plots too were equally inane - did the visit to the medium affect the story or the characters in any way ???

I also felt the whole alien subplot to be one off-the-wall moment too many.

Interestingly enough for a Coen bros film in a packed cinema there wasn't a laugh or even a titter for the whole duration of the film.

Maybe its a "grower" but I won't be going out of my way to watch this one again whereas Fargo, Lebowski and to a lesser extent "O, Brother" have gotten better on multiple viewings.

[pythons]

I was really looking forward to this movie, but overall I left a little dissapointed. It had some interesting twists and turns but I just felt the movie was a little too bland.

Billy Bob gave a top performance and really saved it from being borning (IMHO).

Damm shame, I'm in no rush to see it again though.

Mark

[Cap'n Al]

As I stated in my review, I found it incredibly moving and very, very affecting. Then again, I think much the same about most of Stanley Kubrick's films, and they get the same criticisms made about them over and over again.

[theblairwitch]

Strange <b>Cap'n Al</b>, I like the vast majority of Kubricks oeuvre too - and this is also coming from someone who loved AI :eek: , but Man Who... just did nothing for me.

All style - no content.

[andcam]

I find it interesting that quite a few of the comments above compare it to Fargo, Lebowski and O Brother, when I think it bears much more of a similarity in terms of mood, pacing and language to earlier Coen movies such as Miller's Crossing (and apparently Blood Simple, which, most cardinal of sins, I have not yet seen).

I actually found The Man Who Wasn't There to be one of the most satisfying viewing experiences I've had at any Coen movie. Billy Bob Thornton's performance was just amazing (although no doubt far too low key to put him in the running come awards season), and although I agree that the supporting characters do not stand out as much as one would expect, it probably would have unbalanced the movie had they done so.
One of the best looking movies I've seen in a long time too (come to think of it, probably since O Brother!)

Heavens to Betsy...

[McMikey]

I'm also in the same boat as you andcam. I've not seen blood simple but have seen Miller's Crossing and come out of the cinema being reminded of that more than O'Brother, Big Lebowski and definately not Raising Arizona. I felt it was kind of hit and miss and I'd say I preferred Miller's Crossing although overall this had funnier moments

when the alien thing is first uncovered I was laughing like an idiot. I also cracked up when Creighton(entropeneur) tried to come on to Ed

Also in terms of the supporting cast I thought they were fine, Tony Shalhoub as Freddy Riedenschneider stood out for me ok he wasn't in the film that much but he was still good.

Another sort of link with the hair aswell after O'Brother

PS add IMHO where ever you get upset with my post ;)

[neverland]

The thing with Coen Brothers films is that I'm always surprised by the widely differing opinions as to which are the best or worst.

At the end of the day, I think Coens fans are just going to have to take the chance. And if you're not a Coens fan, well, you're wrong basically. :)