The Man Who Wasn’t There

In this black-and-white film noir by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen (True Grit, No Country for Old Men), Billy Bob Thornton stars as Ed Crane, an aimless barber who’s dissatisfied with his life in a small northern California town in the summer of 1949. His wife’s (Frances McDormand) infidelity presents Crane with an opportunity for blackmail that he thinks will turn his life around … but his scheme lays bare even darker secrets that eventually lead to murder. James Gandolfini co-stars.

Brian
Rating: 8 out of 10

The Coen Brothers float from genre to genre the way that David Bowie floats from music style to music style. They decide on a script, make the film, and tell a great story. There really is no weak part to their filmmaking. They weave a great tale, always get first rate performances from the actors, and have a keen visual eye for interesting camera angles and visual trickery to illicit an emotional response.I think when all is said and done; they are in the top 5 of American filmmakers ever.

“The Man Who Wasn’t There” is their take on film noir and they do a terrific job. It’s not perfect; “Fargo” and “No Country for Old Men” were perfect. But for film noir, it’s great. A lot has to be said for the film’s editing. This is a film that relies a lot on silence. The main character (played note perfect by Billy Bob Thornton) is a man of few words but deep thought. His narration accompanies the film wonderfully and fills in the blank spaces. Much of the dialogue is one way. A character talks to Billy Bob and he just nods. His quiet demeanor leaves an aura of unpredictability to his character that keeps the film moving. You never know what’s bubbling underneath the surface. Is it rage? Anger? Fear? Sadness? Happiness? We don’t always know and it leaves a lot to our imagination.There’s also first rate work here by the entire cast. James Gandolfini, Frances McDormand, Michael Badalucco, and particularly Tony Shalhoub as the eccentric and fast-talking lawyer Freddy Riedenschneider are awesome all around.

The problem with the film is the few loopholes in the story that made little sense to me. If Billy Bob’s character was trying to move on from his wife and create his own life, why did he pay through the nose for a top flight lawyer? It seemed closed and shut that he eliminated two problems at the same time: his wife and her adulterous lover. Also, for a guy who seems to think out every deal, he couldn’t see that the man starting the dry cleaning business was a scam? The last reel of the film is a disappointment because the setup was so good. But all in all, I highly recommend it, particularly if you love old black and white film noir.

Eat Pray Love

The Movie Brothers are proud to have Lauren Romano as a new contributor to The Movie Brothers. Lauren is a former journalist of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, a copywriter, and movie blogger. You should check out her site, mylifeatthemovies.com, in which she plans to see every movie released this year. Here’s her first review for us.

Julia Roberts stars in this adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert’s best-selling memoir about coping with a depressing divorce. After deciding to reshape her life, Liz (Roberts) travels the world in search of direction. She heads to Italy, India and Bali, indulging in delicious cuisine while seeking the true meaning of self-love, family, friendship and forgiveness. Along the way, she meets a bevy of characters and, possibly, her true love.

Lauren
Rating: 3 out of 10

I tried to read “Eat Pray Love: The Book” twice and couldn’t even get through Italy, the author’s first stop on her spiritual journey. Looking into the depressed mind of a woman who, to me, has the most glamorous job ever – a travel writer – is hard to swallow. It’s full of self-indulgent, self-pity bullshit, and has a sweeping phoniness about it. 

But, for some reason, I still wanted to see the movie. I couldn’t resist Julia Roberts eating her way through Italy and falling in love with Javier Bardem. I thought the Hollywood treatment, which has ruined so many books, could make this one enjoyable.

I was wrong. It was more than 2 hours of whiny self-indulgent, self-pity bullshit.

The story is split into three countries, but really it’s four because the first quarter takes place in New York, where this glamorous travel writer lives. And, that first quarter drags on and on and on. I think Elizabeth Gilbert went into so much detail about how sad and pathetic (ha) her life was as a way of justifying her journey. But who needs justification for wanting to travel the world? Not me. 

Too long. Too much introspective. Too much thought. I really believe no one actually cares what’s in someone else’s journal. We all feel alone. We’re all afraid. We’re all disappointed. We’ve all been hurt. So why is Liz’s story so interesting? It’s not. She just got a book deal and was able to take a year off and travel the world in search of her balance. Most of us have to settle, finding our balance between our 7 a.m. Starbucks and our 11 p.m. sleeping pill.

Do I sound bitter? I am.