The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)

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.

Director:

Joel Coen

Writers:

Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

Stars:

Billy Bob Thornton, Frances McDormand, Michael Badalucco

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 24 wins & 33 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

1949, Santa Rosa, California. A laconic, chain-smoking barber with fallen arches tells a story of a man trying to escape a humdrum life. It's a tale of suspected adultery, blackmail, foul play, death, Sacramento city slickers, racial slurs, invented war heroics, shaved legs, a gamine piano player, aliens, and Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. Ed Crane cuts hair in his in-law's shop; his wife drinks and may be having an affair with her boss, Big Dave, who has $10,000 to invest in a second department store. Ed gets wind of a chance to make money in dry cleaning. Blackmail and investment are his opportunity to be more than a man no one notices. Settle in the chair and listen.

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Plot Keywords:

blackmail | laconic | barber | chain smoking | department store | 

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Taglines:

The last thing on his mind is murder.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for a scene of violence

Details

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English Italian French

Release Date:

26 October 2001 (UK)

Also Known As:

The Barber Project

Filming Locations:

Glendale, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$664,404 (USA) (2 November 2001)

Gross:

$7,494,849 (USA) (22 February 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Good Machine, Gramercy Pictures (I), Mike Zoss Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Katherine Borowitz's character is named "Ann Nirdlinger Brewster." "Nirdlinger" is the last name of the main female character in James M. Cain's novel 'Double Indemnity,' the basis for the classic film noir Double Indemnity (although for the movie, her name was changed to "Dietrichson").

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Goofs

Ed Crane is approached to invest in a "new" technology/ business idea - dry cleaning. In fact, dry cleaning had been a flourishing business since the early 20th century, a key principle of the process having been discovered in the mid-19th century by a French inventor. A town as large as Santa Rosa CA (the setting) would certainly already have had 10 or more dry cleaners in 1949, the year in which TMWWT is set.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Ed Crane: Yeah, I worked in a barbershop, but I never considered myself a barber. I stumbled into it. Or married into it, more precisely.

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Crazy Credits

The opening titles cast shadows on the wall as if they are real.

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Connections

References Scarlet Street (1945)

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Soundtracks

"Moonlight in Vermont"
Music by Karl Suessdorf
Lyrics by John Blackburn (as Johnny Blackburn)
Performed by Hugo Winterhalter and His Orchestra
Courtesy of The RCA Records Label, a unit of BMG Entertainment
Under license from BMG Special Markets

User Reviews

Why you should see this movie

It is beautifully and refreshingly unpretentious. It is acted and filmed with grace and delicacy. This is the kind if movie we hope to find while sitting through most of the glitz and superficiality that gets made. Without question worth eight bucks, and two hours of your evening. Score another one for the Coen brothers.