The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)

Reidenschneider: They got this guy, in Germany. Fritz Something-or-other. Or is it? Maybe it's Werner. Anyway, he's got this theory, you wanna test something, you know, scientifically - how the planets go round the sun, what sunspots are made of, why the water comes out of the tap - well, you gotta look at it. But sometimes you look at it, your looking changes it. You can't know the reality of what happened, or what would've happened if you hadn't-a stuck in your own goddamn schnozz. So there is no "what happened"? Not in any sense that we can grasp, with our puny minds. Because our minds... our minds get in the way. Looking at something changes it. They call it the "Uncertainty Principle". Sure, it sounds screwy, but even Einstein says the guy's on to something. Science...Perception....Reality....Doubt.....Reasonable Doubt. I'm saying...sometimes the more you look, the less you really know. It's a fact. A true fact.....In fact it's the only fact there is.

According to Reidenschneider (Tony Shalhoub), Ed Crane (Billy Bob Thornton) is the quintessential modern man. A sad, chain-smoking barber who has lost his place in the universe after being dealt some bad cards in life and is too ordinary to be the criminal mastermind that the jury is looking for. The Man Who Wasn't There is a story of adultery, blackmailing, deception, murder and a funny kind of justice shot in the film noir tradition in this work by the Coen brothers.

When Ed Crane hears about a business proposal from Creighton Tolliver (Jon Polito) about the in-thing called "dry cleaning", he feels he at last has a chance to get out of his humdrum life. Having known that his wife, Dorris (Frances McDormand), has been having an affair with her boss, Dave Brewster (James Gandolfini), he has a perfect plan to arrange the dough that he needs to invest in the business. What follows, however, is a series of confusing events that puts Dorris as the number one suspect for the killing of Big Dave. After Dorris commits suicide in the prison, Ed Crane is more or less free from all trouble and keeps leading the same boring life again. Feeling inspired to do something good for the daughter of a family friend, Birdy (Scarlett Johansson), a kid with a talent for piano, he takes her to the best teacher in Sacramento so that her life doesn't go down in waste as his. As fate would have it, they meet with an accident and while he is in the hospital, the police also find the dumped body of Creighton. Circumstantial evidence suggests that Ed has committed the crime, even though he had no direct part in it.

All through the movie, you'll find the dark humor that is so characteristic of all Coen brother's movies. Billy Bob Thornton plays the role of Ed Crane with perfection. He doesn't speak much (even though he gives the voice-over for the sequence of events) and is very controlled on the surface while being restless underneath for any chance to get out. He truly fits into the role of a ghost - the man who isn't there. In a way, he kept reminding me of the protagonist in the book, The Stranger, and with a similar brilliant last act in the court room, I was thinking it'd head in that direction. However, as always with the Coen brothers, we see an ending that is a signature of their view of life. Rest of the lesser known cast have also pulled off some brilliant performances with special note for Francis McDormand as the loud, dominating wife. Overall, a must-see for all with a taste for dark humor.

Rating: 7.5/10