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The Man Who Wasn't There

  • 2001
  • R
  • 1h 56m
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
112K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
4,039
1,529
Frances McDormand, Billy Bob Thornton, and James Gandolfini in The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
Theatrical Trailer from USA Films
Play trailer1:36
2 Videos
99+ Photos
CrimeDrama

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.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.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
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    7.5/10
    112K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    4,039
    1,529
    • Director
      • Joel Coen
    • Writers
      • Joel Coen
      • Ethan Coen
    • Stars
      • Billy Bob Thornton
      • Frances McDormand
      • Michael Badalucco
    • 481User reviews
    • 174Critic reviews
    • 73Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar
      • 25 wins & 43 nominations total

    Videos2

    The Man Who Wasn't There
    Trailer 1:36
    Watch The Man Who Wasn't There
    A Guide to the Films of the Coen Brothers
    Clip 1:56
    Watch A Guide to the Films of the Coen Brothers

    Photos108

    Scarlett Johansson in The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
    Scarlett Johansson in The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
    Billy Bob Thornton in The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
    Billy Bob Thornton in The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
    Billy Bob Thornton and James Gandolfini in The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
    Billy Bob Thornton in The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
    Frances McDormand and James Gandolfini in The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
    Billy Bob Thornton and Jon Polito in The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
    Scarlett Johansson in The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
    Michael Badalucco in The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
    Katherine Borowitz in The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
    Jon Polito in The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Billy Bob Thornton
    Billy Bob Thornton
    • Ed Crane
    Frances McDormand
    Frances McDormand
    • Doris Crane
    Michael Badalucco
    Michael Badalucco
    • Frank
    James Gandolfini
    James Gandolfini
    • Big Dave Brewster
    Katherine Borowitz
    Katherine Borowitz
    • Ann Nirdlinger Brewster
    Jon Polito
    Jon Polito
    • Creighton Tolliver
    Scarlett Johansson
    Scarlett Johansson
    • Birdy Abundas
    Richard Jenkins
    Richard Jenkins
    • Walter Abundas
    Tony Shalhoub
    Tony Shalhoub
    • Freddy Riedenschneider
    Christopher Kriesa
    Christopher Kriesa
    • Officer Persky
    Brian Haley
    Brian Haley
    • Officer Krebs
    Jack McGee
    Jack McGee
    • P.I. Burns
    Gregg Binkley
    Gregg Binkley
    • New Man
    Alan Fudge
    Alan Fudge
    • Dr. Diedrickson
    Lilyan Chauvin
    Lilyan Chauvin
    • Medium
    Adam Alexi-Malle
    Adam Alexi-Malle
    • Jacques Carcanogues
    Ted Rooney
    Ted Rooney
    • Bingo Caller
    Abraham Benrubi
    Abraham Benrubi
    • Party Man
    • Director
      • Joel Coen
    • Writers
      • Joel Coen
      • Ethan Coen
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Joel Coen and Ethan Coen came up with the story while working on The Hudsucker Proxy (1994). While filming the scene in the barbershop, the Coens saw a prop poster of 1940s haircuts and began developing a story about the barber who cut the hair in the poster.
    • Goofs
      Birdy Abundas says that Ludwig van Beethoven "was deaf when he wrote this. [...] He never actually heard it", referring to his Piano Sonata No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 13, "Pathetique". When Beethoven composed this specific Sonata in 1798, he wasn't deaf. He already had some auditory troubles but he became totally deaf later, around 1815. During the very beginning of the 19th century he was still able to play public concerts and to hear the pieces he was composing.
    • Quotes

      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. Ya 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.

    • Crazy credits
      The opening titles cast shadows on the wall as if they are real.
    • Alternate versions
      Though original intended to be released in black and white, the movie was originally shot in color. Some countries released the movie in color (e.g. Japan) for marketing reasons. Both versions are released on home media.
    • Connections
      Featured in Siskel & Ebert: What's the Worst That Could Happen?/Pearl Harbor/The Anniversary Party/Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures (2001)
    • Soundtracks
      Piano Sonata No.8 in C minor, Op.13 (Pathetique)
      (1799)

      Written by Ludwig van Beethoven

    User reviews481

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    9/10
    A living, breathing specimen of a species we thought had been extinct for decades
    I'm sorry, but I like my black and white black and white - ESPECIALLY in a film that sets out to be the most pure film noir of all. The shadows should be, simply, black, not black tinted with dark green. The greys should be, simply, grey, not pearl grey or slate grey or any of the other shades of paint-catalogue grey that are the result (I presume) of trying to make a black and white film without using any actual black and white film. I don't know the precise technological explanation; I do know that the film would be at least twice as good if the Coens would simply take the master print and transfer it to whatever material they use when they screen, say, "Double Indemnity". This is not hyperbole.

    Not that it's not good already. Joel Coen, who in "O Brother, Where Art Thou" showed himself to be one of the few living directors capable of fully exploiting colour, shows himself here to be one of the few living directors capable of fully exploiting light and shade. I particularly liked the scene where the defence lawyer explains why if we look at something too closely, we fail to see it, while his face (and only his face) is bathed in JUST enough too much light to prevent us from seeing it properly. It sounds academic, but it works: the Coens never use an idea if they can't make it breathe.

    As a rule, first-person narration breathes life into books but kills films - with the exception of one genre: film noir. And the Coens understand why it works, when it does, in this rare exception. Like most noir protagonists, Ed Crane (Billy Bob Thornton) is almost perfectly uncommunicative: neither his conversation nor his actions tell us anything about him. We need direct access to his very thoughts, put into words, to be able to understand what's going on and to appreciate his story. And it's only fitting that we're allowed to listen to him as HE takes stock of his own story, for the very first time, now that it's all over. -And maybe the Coens don't even need this justification. Ethan has written what may be the most delicious, perceptive and apt first-person voice-over the genre has seen.

    "The Man Who Wasn't There" is not as magnificent an achievement as "Barton Fink" or "O Brother, Where Art Thou" - but then, no noir film is. (It's really a constricting genre; Billy Wilder's finest works aren't noir, either.) The fact that there are so many good noir films should be regarded as a miracle. Here is another miracle.
    helpful•72
    36
    • Spleen
    • Jan 2, 2002

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 16, 2001 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United States
      • United Kingdom
    • Languages
      • English
      • Italian
      • French
    • Also known as
      • The Barber Movie
    • Filming locations
      • Santa Rosa, California, USA
    • Production companies
      • Good Machine
      • Gramercy Pictures (I)
      • Mike Zoss Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $20,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $7,504,257
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $664,404
      • Nov 4, 2001
    • Gross worldwide
      • $18,916,623
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 56 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • DTS
      • Dolby Digital
      • SDDS
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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