COENS PROVIDE STYLE AND BODY BUT 'MAN' DOESN'T CUT IT.Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic Billy Bob Thornton Robert George (Bob) Thornton (born July 10 1962, in Los Angeles, California) is a retired American professional basketball player in the NBA whose career lasted from 1985 to 1996. He was a 6'10" 225 forward. He holds career averages of 3.0 points and 2.5 rebounds in 283 total games. plays the character who embodies the title of the Coen brothers' new movie, ``The Man Who Wasn't There.'' But Thornton's Ed Crane
In the 1970s, he was one of the most active leaders of the Libertarian Party. , a sad-sack barber not given to saying much, could also be called the Man of Constant Sorrow, to borrow the popular song from the Coens' last (and much more entertaining) movie, ``O Brother, Where Art Thou.'' As Ed expresses it, his grandest hope in life is not to feel good, but to achieve the level of ``OK.'' And even a state of OK takes a lot of effort for Ed. There's a lot to like about ``The Man Who Wasn't There,'' the Coens' prickly homage to the hard-boiled pulp fiction of James M. Cain James Mallahan Cain (July 1, 1892 – October 27, 1977) was an American journalist and novelist. Although Cain himself vehemently opposed labelling, he is usually associated with the hardboiled school of American crime fiction and seen as one of the creators of the . Technically, it's superb, both in the basic mechanics of its noir plot to the luminous composition of Roger Deakins' black-and-white photography. Thornton is surprisingly soulful as the taciturn tac·i·turn adj. Habitually untalkative. See Synonyms at silent. [French taciturne, from Old French, from Latin taciturnus, from tacitus, silent; see tacit. barber, and the movie boasts the sort of interesting range of supporting characters that we've come to expect in a Coen brothers film. But, ultimately, the movie is interesting without ever being truly involving. The Coens establish the story quickly - Ed discovers his wife, Doris (Frances McDormand), is cheating on him with her boss, Big Dave
Big Dave is an infamous character created and written by Mark Millar and Grant Morrison, with artwork by Steve Parkhouse, for 2000 AD. (James Gandolfini James R. Gandolfini (born September 18, 1961) is a three-time Emmy award winning American actor known for multifaceted portrayals of conscientious yet often inherently sinister characters. ), who manages Nirdlinger's department store. When a stranger (Jon Polito) comes into Ed's barber shop, touting the money to be made in dry cleaning, Ed decides to blackmail Big Dave to come up with the investment funds. This being Cain (and Coen) territory, things don't go quite as planned. And for about an hour, the movie plays tight and satisfying. But then the story takes an unconvincing turn and everything that happens afterward feels labored and surprisingly lifeless. It's not unwatchable - Thornton's performance and Deakins' pictures keep it afloat - but it's difficult to muster up to gather up; to succeed in obtaining; to obtain with some effort or difficulty. See also: Muster the energy to care about anything. It's as if Ed's listlessness listlessness shows lack of interest in its surroundings. is contagious. Thus, ``The Man Who Wasn't There'' ranks as a fascinating failure, a textbook example of how to intelligently and impeccably craft a genre film and still come up short. It's proof that you need more than a mere working knowledge of plot mechanics to effectively raise a little Cain. ``THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE'' (Rated R: for scenes of violence) The stars: Billy Bob Thornton, Frances McDormand, James Gandolfini. Behind the scenes: Directed by Joel Coen; screenplay by Joel and Ethan Coen. Released by USA Films. Running time: One hour, 56 minutes. Playing: Opens today exclusively at Loews Cineplex Century Plaza Cinemas in Century City. Expands Friday to Pacific's Galleria Stadium 16 in Sherman Oaks and Laemmle's Playhouse 7 in Pasadena and select theaters. Our rating: Two and one half stars CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Billy Bob Thornton trims the hair and picks the brain of Jon Polito in ``The Man Who Wasn't There.'' |
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