Alex Moss EditorLike its titular character, The Man Who Wasn’t There is a Coen Brothers’ film that often flies under the radar. Which is strange as it is easily one of their most accomplished and interesting films.
This is a Coen film in the vein of their finest thrillers like Blood Simple, No Country For Old Men or Miller’s Crossing. Yes, like much of their oeuvre it has a certain quirky charm to it, mainly in some of the characters. But more than anything it’s a Neo-noir that puts an ordinary man in the kind of extraordinary circumstances that change everything in his life, except him.
Ed Crane (Billy Bob Thorton) is an unassuming man who is happy to live on the periphery of the world he occupies. Learning his wife Doris (Frances McDormand) is having an affair with her boss Big Dave (James Gandolfini), Ed sets out to blackmail Big Dave and use the proceeds to invest in a dry cleaning business and nurturing the musical talents of neighbour Birdy (Scarlett Johansson). But nothing goes according to plan.
Exquisitely shot by Roger Deakins in colour but later transferred to black and white it is easily the most gorgeous looking Coen Brothers’ film. Deakins is clearly relishing in the stark contrast black and white allows him and utilising Chiaroscuro lightening, pumped with atmos and throwing shadow across frames to perfectly capture the net closing in on Crane’s world. Likewise, the Coens use it to perfectly capture the nature of Crane. A man who goes from the bright light of his barber shop to the dark world of crime. And all the while a man who blends into his background. His white smock against the stark barbershop, his plaid suit against a chair and his silhouette highlighting that Crane is rarely more than a shadow of a man, and he knows it. This might be a world shot in black and white but it’s morally grey and it is there that The Man Who Wasn’t There really sparkles.
The Coens based the script on the writing of James M. Cain whose work includes Double Indemnity, The Postman Always Rings Twice and Mildred Pierce. All those stories see everyday people caught in a web of lies and blackmail, in over their heads and desperately trying not to drown in the bleak existence of their own creation. The Man Who Wasn’t There captures this perfectly, it is in many ways the story of a man making one wrong decision and witnessing his slow descent into hell as a result of it.
Despite the cynical, bleak nature of the film there is something undeniably comforting about The Man Who Wasn’t There. This stems primarily from the languid, resigned voiceover. Delivered in Thorton’s soothing tones it is a key part of why makes the film so entrancing. That even as the world stacks up against Crane he comes across as indifferent to it all. There is an existential realisation while watching it that no matter what you do, good or bad, we’re all destined for death eventually.
As with most Coen films the stacked cast all deliver with aplomb but it really is Thorton’s film. His Crane is such a likably nonchalant character, drifting through the world without a seeming care while at the same time displaying a warmth beneath it all. Special mention also to Tony Shalhoub who turns up as a sleazy lawyer and steals every second on the film he appears in.
A glorious piece of nostalgic noir, The Man Who Wasn’t There is proof that, when they want to, they do make them like they used to.
The Man Who Wasn’t There is available on The Criterion Collection on 4K UHD and Blu-ray from 2nd March 2026
