The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001)
Coming Out at 26 October 2001 in theaters.
Crime, Drama
The Man Who Wasn’t There is crime film written, produced and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Billy Bob Thornton stars in the title role. Also featured are Tony Shalhoub, Scarlett Johansson, James Gandolfini, and Coen regulars Frances McDormand, Michael Badalucco, Richard Jenkins and Jon Polito. Joel Coen won the Best Director Award at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, sharing the prize with David Lynch for Mulholland Drive. Ethan Coen, Joel Coen’s brother and co-director of the film, did not receive the Best Director Award as he was not credited as a director.
This was the last film to be produced and distributed by Gramercy Pictures until it was revived in 2015.
In 1949, Ed Crane is a low-key barber in the town of Santa Rosa, California. He is married to Doris, a bookkeeper with a drinking problem, and he works in a barber shop that is owned by his brother-in-law, Frank. A customer named Creighton Tolliver tells Ed that he is a businessman looking for investors to put up $10,000 in a new technology called dry cleaning. Ed decides to collect money by anonymously blackmailing Doris’ boss, “Big Dave” Brewster, whom he suspects is having an affair with Doris. Dave embezzles money from his department store to pay the blackmail. However, Brewster soon pieces together the scheme, and beats Tolliver until he implicates Ed. Dave confronts Ed at the store and attempts to kill him, but Ed stabs Dave fatally with a cigar knife.
Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Writers: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Stars: Billy Bob Thornton, Frances McDormand, Michael Badalucco, James Gandolfini, Katherine Borowitz, Jon Polito, Scarlett Johansson
Cast:
| 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 | … | New Man |
| Alan Fudge | … | Dr. Diedrickson |
| Lilyan Chauvin | … | Medium |
| Adam Alexi-Malle | … | Jacques Carcanogues |
| Ted Rooney | … | Bingo Caller |
| Abraham Benrubi | … | Party Man |
| Christian Ferratti | … | Child |
| Rhoda Gemignani | … | Costanza |
| E.J. Callahan | … | Customer |
| Brooke Smith | … | Sobbing Prisoner |
| Ron Ross | … | Banker |
| Hallie Singleton | … | Waitress |
| Jon Donnelly | … | Gatto Eater |
| Dan Martin | … | Bailiff |
| Nicholas Lanier | … | Tony |
| Tom Dahlgren | … | Judge #1 |
| Booth Colman | … | Judge #2 |
| Stanley DeSantis | … | New Man’s Customer |
| Peter Siragusa | … | Bartender |
| Christopher McDonald | … | Macadam Salesman |
| Rick Scarry | … | District Attorney |
| George Ives | … | Lloyd Garroway |
| Devon Cole Borisoff | … | Swimming Boy |
| Mary Bogue | … | Prisoner Visitor |
| Don Donati | … | Pie Contest Timer |
| Arthur Reeves | … | Flophouse Clerk |
| Michelle Weber | … | Dancer |
| Randi Cee | … | Dancer |
| Robert Loftin | … | Dancer |
| Kenneth Hughes | … | Dancer |
| Gordon Hart | … | Dancer |
| Brenda Mae Hamilton | … | Dancer |
| Lloyd Gordon | … | Dancer |
| Leonard Crofoot | … | Dancer |
| Rita Bland | … | Dancer |
| Audrey K. Baranishyn | … | Dancer |
| Qyn Hughes | … | Dancer |
| Rachel McDonald | … | Dancer |
| Craig Berenson | … | Jail Guy |
| Joan Blair | … | Prison Matron |
| Greg Bronson | … | Courtroom Attendee |
| Geoffrey Gould | … | Alpine Rope Toss Man |
| Paul G. Gray | … | Man in Courtroom |
| Phil Hawn | … | Man in Courtroom |
| Cherilyn Hayres | … | Swing Dancer |
| John Michael Higgins | … | Emergency Room Physician |
| Janis Jones | … | Woman at Piano Recital |
| Jennifer Jason Leigh | … | Female inmate |
| Peter Schrum | … | Truck Driver |
| Max Thayer | … | Witness |
Sources: imdb & wikipedia