Noir November: The Man Who Wasn’t There
Written by Cameron Geiser
Every day for the month of November, Cameron Geiser is reviewing a noir film (classic or neo) for Noir November. Today covers the underrated Coen brothers film The Man Who Wasn’t There.
Returning to the Coen Brothers for our next Noir finds us in a black and white period piece whose lead is a stoic barber. Our barber is Ed Crane (Billy Bob Thornton), and while he may tell us “Yeah, I worked in a barbershop, but I never considered myself a barber. I stumbled into it—well, married into it more precisely..” He certainly works the job of a barber, but he doesn’t seem to enjoy it. Though, to be fair, it doesn’t seem like Ed really enjoys much of anything in life from the outside looking in. We get his version of events as they happen through the narration, and as he begins he notes that’s never been much of a talker either, but then we hear him narrate over the whole of the movie. There's definitely something to be said about the duality of personality within Ed Crane, what he presents outwardly versus how he interacts with the world at large. That’s not entirely the focus here though.
This is a Noir film after all, somebody’s gotta die while blackmail and deceit fills the smoky air. This has to be the easiest film of the back half of the Noir reviews to finger as a Noir. The Coen Brothers went to great lengths to recreate the look of Noirs for this film, the stark contrast of lighting choices within the inkwell world they’ve recreated may not have the pitch black shadows of say Double Indemnity, but it plays with all the familiar visuals of Noir. The Man Who Wasn’t There just has a far more melancholic and deadpan attitude over the course of the film. Cynicism is nothing new to Noir, but this film goes in a deeper psychological route. It’s more of a depression than a sharp edge towards the world. Billy Bob Thornton plays Ed Crane as a man dissatisfied with life itself, detached, unaffected, with a face that looks as if he’s constantly at a loss for words, or daydreaming incessantly.
Billy Bob Thorton in The Man Who Wasn’t There.
The Coen Brothers have always been more concerned with how their films feel over the logic of their plots, and this film doubles down on that ideology. Ed eventually puts two and two together when his wife Doris (Frances McDormand) and her Boss Big Dave Brewster (James Gandolfini) are laughing at the same things during a double date while Ed and Big Dave's wife sit on the sidelines and generally eat quietly. So, Ed gets the idea to blackmail his wife to fund a new line of work he'd recently been approached about, Dry Cleaning. Obviously, things don't go well for Ed Crane and company over the course of the film. Details of the plot would spoil things unnecessarily and again, that isn't the point of this film anyways. It feels more like the Coen Brothers have utilized Noir story structure and the familiar visuals to really dig into this existential exploration into the meaninglessness of the universe. Which I feel is perfectly expressed during the short UFO sequence near the end of the film.
What is Noir if not a weak man that dreams of breaking away from the tedious monotony of his life, lured by lust or riches to take some new action, anything other than returning to his timid routines? This one may not be for everyone, especially when concerned with the pacing, which is as slow as molasses. However, I would recommend it for the Coen Brothers’ commitment to recreating the golden age of cinema, and the cast is top notch to boot!
Cameron Geiser is an avid consumer of films and books about filmmakers. He'll watch any film at least once, and can usually be spotted at the annual Traverse City Film Festival in Northern Michigan. He also writes about film over at www.spacecortezwrites.com.