The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)

Regisseur:

Joel Coen

Drehbuchautoren (WGA):

Joel Coen (written by) &
Ethan Coen (written by)

Premierendatum:

26. Oktober 2001 (UK)

Genre:

Krimi | Drama

Werbezeile:

The last thing on his mind is murder.

Plot:

A laconic, chain-smoking barber blackmails his wife's boss and lover for money to invest in dry cleaning, but his plan goes terribly wrong.

Plot Keywords:

Car In Water | Teenage Boy | Miscarriage Of Justice | Neo Noir | Barbershop

Filmpreise:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 19 wins & 32 nominations

Nutzerkommentare:

Great pastiche of the noir genre

Besetzung

Billy Bob Thornton	...	Ed Crane
Frances McDormand	...	Doris Crane
Michael Badalucco	...	Frank
James Gandolfini	...	Big Dave Brewster
Katherine Borowitz	...	Ann Nirdlinger Brewster
Jon Polito	...	Creighton Tolliver
Scarlett Johansson	...	Birdy Abundas
Richard Jenkins	...	Walter Abundas
Tony Shalhoub	...	Freddy Riedenschneider
Christopher Kriesa	...	Officer Persky
Brian Haley	...	Officer Krebs
Jack McGee	...	P.I. Burns
Gregg Binkley	...	The New Man
Alan Fudge	...	Dr. Diedrickson
Lilyan Chauvin	...	Medium

Alternativ:

The Barber Project (USA) (working title)
The Man Who Wasn't There (Österreich) (Deutschland) [de]
Unauffällige Mr. Crane, Der (Deutschland) (TV title) [de]

MPAA:

Rated R for a scene of violence.

Länge:

116 Min | Spain:118 Min

Produktionsland:

UK | USA

Sprache:

Englisch

Farbe:

Schwarzweiss

Seitenverhältnis:

1.85 : 1

Tonverfahren:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Altersfreigabe:

Brazil:14 | New Zealand:R16 | Portugal:M/12 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Iceland:14 | Singapore:NC-16 | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Canada:14A | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Netherlands:12 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG (censored version) | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #38222)

Drehorte:

Glendale, California, USA

Firma:

Good Machine

Dies und das:

Santa Rosa, California - a real town, and the setting for this film

• is also the setting for Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt (1943).

Pannen:

Anachronismus: In the fight between Ed and Dave, Ed is thrown to the ground. To his right is a three-prong electrical socket, not introduced until much later.

Dialogzitate:

Ed Crane: I was the principal barber now. I hired a new man for the second chair. I'd hired the guy who did the least gabbing when he came in for an interview, but I guess the new man had only kept quiet because he was nervous. Once he had the job he talked from the minute I opened the shop in the morning until I locked up at night. For all I know, he talked to himself on the way home.

Bezüge zu anderen Titeln:

Bezug enthalten in "Big Bang: (#1.2)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Piano Sonata No.25 in G major, Op.79

Great pastiche of the noir genre

Ed Crane is a barber who quietly wants more from his life. When he meets a man with a business proposition he decides to go for it. He suspects his wife is having an affair with her boss and anonymously blackmails him – however things in noir are never straightforward and blackmail leads to murder and a series of events are sparked off around Ed.

I must say I'm surprised this is as high up the imdb charts as it is, but I'm not surprised by the lukewarm reception it had from multiplex audiences. This is a slow, moody homage where things just happen, rather than a neat `start-middle-tidy finish-bad guy dies' type thing. The Cohen brothers have a reputation for the old quirks and here is no different – mixing the steady noir narration with talk of haircuts and bingo makes for a strange if humorous mix. The plot is good but the noir feel mixed with weird going-ons may alienate many audiences.

Thornton is a perfect choice – his features fit well in the black and white shadows and his voice suits the noir narration. McDormand is good and Gandolfini gets another good role and does well. The support is very good – Badalucco, Shalhoub, Polito are all very good. Some elements of it are like a spot the TV face – we have Benrubi from ER, Higgins from Ally McBeal and Abundas from Six Feet Under all in small roles. It's even nice to see a cameo from McDonald.

Overall this isn't as funny as it was billed, simply because it is a noir. As such the Cohens mix the familiar themes of that genre with all new subjects and create a great effect.