The Man Who Wasn't There

Overview

The Man Who Wasn't There is a 2001 film by the Coen Brothers, set in 1949 and filmed entirely in black and white. The story follows the life of barber Ed Crane, played by Billy Bob Thornton, who one day is propositioned by a mysterious customer named Creighton, to invest $10,000 into his dry cleaning business and split the profits of their success between them 50/50. Ed will just be an investor and silent partner. Sounds to good to be true? Well wait and see.

Ed suspects his wife of cheating with her boss big Dave, played by James Gandolfini, and uses this knowledge to blackmail the money from him to gather his investment. In typical Coen Brothers style, what starts as a seemingly simple story ends up with many twists and turns which are uncovered as Ed gets deeper into his plan and tangled up in the web of lies, which sees his wife arrested for embezzlement, as it turns out she's been cooking the books for the company she works for.

Favourite Quote

"I Bought your make up and glasses" - said by Ed during his first visit to his wife Doris, who is imprisoned whilst awaiting trial for the murder of her boss and embezzlement, for which we know she's wrong accused. I'm sure she found comfort and reassurance however, from her husbands thoughtfulness of bringing the two items she was probably missing very dearly. Her time leading up to the trial i'm sure will be a lot more comforting

Favourite Scene

Has to be when Ed and Doris have their first consultation with defence lawyer Frank, played by Tony Shalhoub from excellent TV series Monk. Where he is asking for anything they know he can base his defence on, Ed admits to the murder of Doris' boss Dave, as he knew his wife was having an affair and even details the night of how he got into the building and the events that followed.

Frank being a good Lawyer, doesn't accept this as a good enough defence as there were no witnesses and too many holes in the story, despite the fact he told the truth! He dismisses this and hires a private detective to find dirt on the victim and can put his own spin on the details that are in front of him instead of going in with the truth he's been told. You don't need to prove innocence or guilt, you need to make the prosecution look stupid and discredit the victims past. Don't you just love the justice system!

Final Words

This is an easy watch and the story keeps you interested with its many different twists and turns which unravel and spiral as more truths about Ed and Doris' life come out. The fact its black and white all the way through definitely adds to the atmosphere and you really do believe it has been filmed in the period it is set in. I think we can all relate to The Man Who Wasn't There in some way or form, where we can feel we want more than we have and how a simple plan to improve our lives can end up out of control and out of our hands very quickly.

I score this film 3.5 shady lawyers out of 5