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Movie Overview
Cast
• Billy Bob Thornton
• Frances McDormand
• James Gandolfini
Director
• Joel Coen
MPAA Rating
R - a scene of violence
The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)

REVIEWS
NEWS
INTERVIEWS
OTHER
OFCS Rating: 88% Fresh
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95/100
"La frase y secuencia final, como idea y como toma es tan buena, que sólo puede sonreírse al mirarla y recordarla"  Cinenganos  Alex Ramirez

2.5/5
"Merely Z-grade noir full of weird non-sequiturs"  Filmcritic.com  Christopher Null

"Intelligent, insightful, and resonant."  PopMatters  Cynthia Fuchs

3/4
"Joel and Ethan Coen's "The Man Who Wasn't There" remains compelling even though little seems to be happening."  Lawrence Journal-World  Dan Lybarger

2/4
"Ed may be very well be the man who wasn't there, but that's not the only thing absent from this letdown of a motion picture."  Cinemaphile.org  David Keyes

3/4
"Another quirky, intelligent, beautifully photographed, and finely crafted movie from the Brothers Coen."  Movie Boeuf  David N. Butterworth

A-
"Each performance is intelligently measured..."  Ozus' World Movie Reviews  Dennis Schwartz

1.5/4
"Knowing that such a wasteful project was done by such talents as Joel and Ethan Coen makes the outcome all the more mindbogglingly weak."  TheMovieBoy.com  Dustin Putman

3/4
"The Coens deftly handle the film's twists and turns, even if they hide behind noir jargon to oft-desperate effect."  Slant Magazine  Ed Gonzalez

B+
"Vastly entertaining and boasts several excellent performances."  EricDSnider.com  Eric D. Snider

2/4
"Plays like Death of a Salesman without all the hard-hitting action."  eFilmCritic.com  Erik Childress

A
"It's remarkable in the way it blends genres, defies convention, draws us in and breaks our hearts."  Film Blather  Eugene Novikov

B+
"A lovely, very funny and strangely moving film, one that takes its rightful place in the ever-more-amazing corpus of the brothers' work."  One Guy's Opinion  Frank Swietek

"A black-and-white tour de force by the Coen Brothers about all the changes that rain down upon a passive man when he decides to change his life."  Spirituality and Practice  Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

3/4
"An unconventional, unpredictable thriller that Hitchcock probably would have enjoyed."  ReelViews  James Berardinelli

3.5/4
"Like those funky Chrysler PT Cruisers, it is meant to look like something from the past, but at the same time remain firmly rooted in the present tense"  Q Network Film Desk  James Kendrick

4/5
"Black-and-white Coen brothers experiment in film noir is transformed by Billy Bob Thornton's superb performance."  Netflix  James Rocchi

6/10
"A more outwardly dramatic offering than what we're used to seeing from the brothers, and, without the usual doses of droll comedy to keep the story moving, the weakness of a petering final act feels magnified."  Window to the Movies  Jeffrey Chen

3.5/4
"It's one of the Coens' most successful, emotionally charged works."  MovieMartyr.com  Jeremy Heilman

"Although it features some decent and even fun filmmaking and storytelling ... and a terrific performance by Thornton, the film simply loses focus and gets a bit too bizarre for its own good or the viewer's enjoyment."  Screen It!  Jim Judy

9/10
"The Coen bros' films have always been an acquired taste so if you're looking for something unique, this flick might just be the change of pace that you're looking for."  JoBlo's Movie Emporium  JoBlo

"What follows is never once predictable ... but consistently a wonderfully shadowy marvel."  Planet Sick-Boy  Jon Popick

3/4
"Los Coen siguen demostrando que el cine es mucho más que simples efectismos visuales que no dejan nada para la posteridad."  Moviola  Jorge Avila Andrade

4
"This film is seamy, rimmed with cigarette smoke and shadows coursing with meaning. Go see it – it’s beautiful."  Cinerina  Karina Montgomery

3/4
"Even though I wish the Coen had invested themselves in their story more seriously, they more than make up for it with style and atmosphere."  Montreal Film Journal  Kevin N. Laforest

B
"The producing/directing/writing team of Joel and Ethan Coen ("Fargo") deliver another of their wonderfully wry homages to American filmmaking"  Reeling Reviews  Laura Clifford

2.5/5
"Clever, in a 'dare you to name this hommage' kind of way, but it's fundamentally heartless and coldly hollow."  TV Guide's Movie Guide  Maitland McDonagh

3.5/4
"A quirky, existentialist neo-noir which starts in the direction of a thriller but turns the tables on its setup and heads off into completely unexpected territory."  Mark Reviews Movies  Mark Dujsik

8/10
"A little slow and listless, but it is a great film to watch and in the end the script is as clever as we would expect from the Coen Brothers."  rec.arts.movies.reviews  Mark R. Leeper

4.5/5
"The measured pace creates a whole world of atmosphere."  Goatdog's Movies  Michael W. Phillips, Jr.

3/5
"Outstanding performances from the entire cast, especially Tony Shaloub as Califonia’s leading criminal defense lawyer."  Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies  Nell Minow

5/5
"It's impossible to guess what the Coen brothers will come up with next, and little could prepare us for this offbeat 1940s noir drama shot in full period style. But it's a complete and utter triumph."  Shadows on the Wall  Rich Cline

5/5
"Thornton does wonders within the tabula rasa of words and gestures he's limited to."  eFilmCritic.com  Rob Gonsalves

A-
"[It] isn't so much a noir movie as a movie deeply in love with noir, a valentine to that seamy world of hard lives, deadly women, and luckless shmoes in trouble…"  Flipside Movie Emporium  Rob Vaux

3/4
"The movie succeeds brilliantly in establishing memorable characters. It also succeeds in establishing a mood of existential absurdity ..."  Laramie Movie Scope  Robert Roten

B+
"...a wonderful entry into the pantheon of modern film noir."  Reeling Reviews  Robin Clifford

4/4
"Their best film since Barton Fink, The Man Who Wasn't There is deadpan slapstick of a kind that has become unique to the Brothers Coen."  Film Freak Central  Walter Chaw

3/4
"Breathtaking cinematography almost covers up some of the structural inconsistencies."  Oscar Guy  Wesley Lovell

"The Coen Brothers peg the genre. Their use of narration, shadows and light and tight cutting show that they have done their homework."  Light Views  John Larsen

7/10
Read review  Modamag.com  Brian Orndorf

3/4
Read review  Big Picture Big Sound  Joe Lozito

8/10
Read review  www.susangranger.com  Susan Granger

Read review  Wolf Entertainment Guide  William Wolf
OFCS Rating: 88% Fresh
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