The Coen brothers directed Billy Bob Thornton in the delightfully quirky black-and-white neo-noirThe Man Who Wasn’t There— and despite its critical acclaim, it’s still criminally underrated. Although the Coens have had a reputation as two of the most unique and legendary filmmakers in the world for more than four decades, a lot of their films remain underappreciated.Hail, Caesar!,Burn After Reading, andThe Hudsucker Proxyall deserve a lot more love.
Some ofthe Coen brothers’ movieswere appreciated in their time, likeFargoandTrue Grit, while others were dismissed on their initial release but later became beloved cult classics, likeRaising ArizonaandThe Big Lebowski. But some of the Coens’ finest films weren’t appreciated in their time and never found a wider audience later on, either.The Man Who Wasn’t Thereis a prime example.
Billy Bob Thornton Starred In The Coen Brothers' The Man Who Wasn’t There In 2000
Thornton Plays A Barber Who Blackmails His Wife’s Lover
In 2000, the Coens releasedThe Man Who Wasn’t There,a 1949-set neo-noirstarring Thornton as Ed Crane, an emotionally distant barber who suspects that his wife is having an affair. Intrigued by a promising business proposal from a strange customer that requires a $10,000 investment on his part, Crane resolves to blackmail his wife’s lover for the money.The Man Who Wasn’t Therehas many hallmarks of a classic film noir, from its monochromatic cinematography to its voiceover narration, butit also subverts the genre with its small-town setting, classical soundtrack, and regular-joe protagonist.
The Man Who Wasn’t Therewas inspired by a 1940s haircut poster that the Coens saw while they were filmingThe Hudsucker Proxy.
Although it was a box office bomb that failed to recoup its production budget,The Man Who Wasn’t Therewas widely praised by critics for Thornton’s typically brilliant performance and Roger Deakins’ typically gorgeous cinematography. At the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, Joel Coen won the award for best director. The BBC, the Guardian, the Austin Chronicle, and the National Board of Review all named it one of the best films of the year.Deakins was nominated for Best Cinematography at the Oscars. But despite all this acclaim, it’s still an underappreciated gem.
Why The Man Who Wasn’t There Is Still Overlooked Despite Its Award Recognition
It’s A Little Too Weird For Mainstream Audiences
In spite of its critical success,The Man Who Wasn’t Theresadly remains overlooked. It’s rarely discussed alongsideSling Blade,A Simple Plan, andMonster’s Ballas one ofThornton’s best movies, and it’s rarely discussed alongsideA Serious ManandNo Country for Old Menas one of the Coens’ best movies. The problem might be that, with its old-timey style, its bizarre characters, and the out-of-left-field appearance of a UFO,The Man Who Wasn’t Theremight be too weird for mainstream audiences (even by the Coens’ standards).
The Man Who Wasn’t There
Cast
The Man Who Wasn’t There is directed by Joel and Ethan Coen and stars Billy Bob Thornton as Ed Crane, a small-town barber in 1949 California. The film follows Crane’s involvement in a blackmail scheme that spirals out of control, drawing him into a complex web of deceit and moral ambiguity. The film’s monochromatic cinematography and meticulous storytelling pay homage to classic film noir.
