The Man Who Wasn't There
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Joel Coen
Billy Bob Thornton
Frances Mcdormand
Michael Badalucco
James Gandolfini
Katherine Borowitz
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In 1949, Ed Crane works at a two-man barbershop owned by his brother-in-law, the loquacious Frank Raffo, in Santa Rosa, California. Ed does not consider himself a barber, just somebody who works as one, while his wife Doris works as a bookkeeper for Nirdlinger's department store. Ed is a man of few words, and at a dinner party for Doris' boss, Big Dave Alan Brewster and his heiress wife, Ann Nirdlinger, Big Dave keeps up the conversation with tall stories about the Pacific war. Ed observes to himself that Big Dave and Doris are closer than she lets on, but he has no interest in interfering. In the barbershop the next day, a new customer named Creighton Tolliver tells Ed that a local businessman has turned down his venture capital scheme for a new dry-cleaning business. Ed mulls the idea over all night and visits Creighton in his hotel room, telling him that he will come up with the $10,000 required investment within a week. Ed fends off a mild pass from Creighton and later writes an anonymous blackmail note to Big Dave demanding $10,000, and threatening that his affair with Doris will be made public if the money is not paid. Big Dave draws Ed into his office during the Nirdlinger's Christmas party and confides in him about the blackmail note, but claims that his lover is no one Ed knows. Big Dave is distraught because paying out the money will prevent him from opening his own annex of the department store, and he fears the censure of his wife and her wealthy family. Ed listens quietly as Big Dave blames Creighton because he had turned down the speculator's scheme, and because Creighton may have seen Big Dave with his lover at his hotel. After leaving the office, Ed is drawn to teenager Rachel "Birdy" Abundas, the daughter of his lawyer friend Walter, while she plays a Beethoven sonata on a piano in a darkened room. On the drive home that night, Doris complains that Big Dave has mishandled his money and because he will not be opening the annex, she will not get a promotion. The next day, Ed collects the blackmail money as pre-arranged and immediately delivers it to Creighton, who has him sign partnership papers. Late the next night, Doris sleeps off having had too much wine at a relative's wedding, unaware that Ed has been called to see Big Dave in the deserted department store. Big Dave reveals that he has beaten the truth out of Creighton. He now attacks Ed, but when he attempts to strangle him, Ed knifes him in the side of the throat. Big Dave dies in a pool of blood and Ed returns home, picking up where he left off in his recollections about when he and Doris first met. Doris is arrested for Big Dave's murder and Walter recommends Ed to Freddy Riedenschneider, an expensive, top-notch Sacramento attorney. Late in the night, Ann visits Ed and reveals that she believes the government murdered Big Dave because she and her husband reported that they had been abducted by aliens while in Eugene, Oregon. The next day, Freddy interviews Doris and Ed, searching for an angle with which to defend her. Ed confesses to the murder, but Freddy brushes this off as an attempt to save his wife, while Doris wordlessly understands it is true. Frank is forced to mortgage his shop in order to pay Freddy, and Ed silently berates himself when he discovers that Creighton has disappeared. Ed seeks solace at the Abundas home, visiting nightly to hear Birdy play Beethoven. During another meeting with Ed and Doris, Freddy expounds on a German scientist's theory that observing something changes it. He then introduces private investigator Burns, who has discovered that Big Dave lied about being a war hero, when in fact during the war he worked as a clerk at a naval shipyard. Freddy is convinced that this will introduce enough reasonable doubt to free Doris. Ed, meanwhile, begins envisioning a new life for himself managing Birdy's professional career as a concert pianist. Everyone is stunned when the trial is canceled because Doris hanged herself in her cell. Frank is so debilitated by his sister's death that he stops working and Ed hires a new barber, who, much to his chagrin, talks just as much as Frank. Although his life continues much as before, Ed now feels like a ghost. After learning from the medical examiner that the wife with whom he had not slept in years was pregnant at the time of her death, Ed tries to contact Doris through a medium, only to realize the absurdity of it. Ed then focuses his efforts on Birdy and gets her an audition with prominent San Francisco music teacher Jacques Carcanogues. Carcanogues tells Ed that Birdy's playing is polite but dispassionate and that she has no future as a professional. On the drive home, Birdy, who has never been interested in a professional career, tries to console Ed by performing oral sex on him. Ed is shocked and protests vehemently, then accidentally drives off the road. As the car sails through the air, time slows for Ed, and he ponders why hair continues to grow after a person dies, and how it knows to stop. Ed finds himself on his porch, smoking a cigarette. Doris arrives home and fends off a pavement salesman, after which she and Ed sit silently on their living room couch. Ed speaks her name, but she tells him to say nothing, and that he is fine. Ed then awakens in the hospital, severely battered by the car accident, and learns that although Birdy is alive and well, he is being arrested for Creighton's death as the salesman's beaten body was recently discovered in his sunken car. Ed signs over his house to Freddy, who agrees to take the case to make up for Doris' lost trial. Although Freddy makes a brilliant argument, Frank loses control and slugs Ed in court, and a mistrial is declared. Ed can no longer afford Freddy's counsel and hires a lesser attorney, Lloyd Garroway. In the next trial, Ed is found guilty and sentenced to death by execution. He finishes writing his story for the magazine Stalwart in his cell, and notes that writing it has helped him see his story as a whole, rather than disconnected pieces. As he is being strapped to the electric chair, Ed reflects that although he is sorry to have caused people pain, the only thing he ever regretted was being a barber. He now looks forward to seeing Doris again and telling her "all those things they don't have words for here."
Director
Joel Coen
Cast
Billy Bob Thornton
Frances Mcdormand
Michael Badalucco
James Gandolfini
Katherine Borowitz
Jon Polito
Scarlett Johansson
Richard Jenkins
Tony Shalhoub
Christopher Kriesa
Brian Haley
Jack Mcgee
Gregg Binkley
Alan Fudge
Lilyan Chauvin
Adam Alexi-malle
Abraham Benrubi
Christian Ferratti
Rhoda Gemignani
E. J. Callahan
Brooke Smith
Ron Ross
Hallie Singleton
Jon Donnelly
Dan Martin
Nicholas Lanier
Tom Dahlgren
Booth Colman
Stanley Desantis
Peter Siragusa
Christopher Mcdonald
John Michael Higgins
Rick Scarry
George Ives
Devin Cole Borisoff
Mary Bogue
Don Donati
Arthur Reeves
Michelle Rae Weber
Randi Pareira
Robert Loftin
Kenneth Hughes
Gordon Hart
Brenda Mae Hamilton
Lloyd Gordon
Leonard Crofoot
Rita Bland
Audrey Baranishyn
Qyn Hughes
Rachel Mcdonald
Crew
Maria Aguilar
Kimberly Aguirre
Damon Allison
J. Todd Anderson
Karyn Anonia
Patrick Ballin
Randall Balsmeyer
Paul Barry
Travis Baumann
Barry Beaulac
Erik Bernstein
Tim Bevan
Jean Black
Johnny Blackburn
Joshua Blakeslee
Deborah 'cha' Blevins
Scott Bobbitt
Roosevelt Bonner
Gert Broekema
James Brown
Thomas Brown
Carter Burwell
John Cameron
John Cameron
Julie Carideo
John Cassella Jr.
Adolfo Castanon
Ben Cheah
Ellen Chenoweth
Pete Chesney Jr.
Peter Chesney
Tom Chesney
Ken Clark
Celeste Cleveland
Stacy Clinger
Ethan Coen
Ethan Coen
Joel Coen
Tricia Cooke
Katie Cooper
Nicolle Cornute
Marko Costanzo
Tony Davis
Roger Deakins
Will Dearborn
Alberto Delgado
Matt Dessero
David Diliberto
Carol Doran
Clint Dougherty
John Dugan
Jenny Eagan
Lynne Eagan
Jesse Ehredt
Ime Etuk
Catherine Farrell
Michael Farrow
Jonathan Feldman
Eric Fellner
Chris Fielder
Tony Finno
Vida Fitzgerald
Don Fly
David French
Shannon Blake Gans
Dennis Gassner
Kristen Gassner
Eugene Gearty
Gary George
Karen Ruth Getchell
Mickey Giacomazzi
Elisabeth Giglio
Lori Goldback
David Goodman
Don Goodman
Chris Gorak
Melinda Sue Gordon
Cheryl Gould
Robert Graf
Matthew Gratzner
Bob Gray
Quinn Grove
Chris Haarhoff
Ted Haigh
Bruce Hamme
Eric Hamme
Lance Hammer
Oscar Hammerstein Ii
Andy Harris
Mila Hermanowski
Jery Hewitt
Kearsley Higgins
Rob Hodgson
Rachel Holroyd
Ian Hunter
Elizabeth Ingram
Kenton Jakub
Aliza James
Nancy James
Sandra James
Roderick Jaynes
Randy Johnson
Emmet Kane
Larry Kaplan
Steve Kasow
Todd Kasow
Kathy Kelehan
Ivan Kerum
Neda Kerum
Tommy Klines
Amanda Koblin
Aquim Krajka
Ritchie Kremer
Cheryl Kurk
Peter Kurland
Jennifer Lamb
Bill Landrum
Jacqui Landrum
George A. Lara
Larry Laurent
Paul Leblanc
Sophie Lecierc
Renata Leischner
John Leone
Mary Liane
Skip Lievsay
Carol Loeffier
Cookie Lopez
William F. Luehm
Mary Macias
Matt '45' Magnolia
Betsy Magruder
Rusty Mahmood
Jeff Markwith
Jonathan Mcgarry
James Meehan
France Metz
Diana Miao
Mike Milliken
Guy Miracle
Theresa Repola Mohammed
Mark Emery Moore
Amanda Morrison
Angela Morrison
Jake Morrison
Theodora Morse
Mike Mosley
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Smriti Mundhra
Donald Murphy
Pablo B. Nantas
Chris Napolitano
Edward R. Nedin
Igor Nikolic
Kevin O'shea
Grant Osborn
Sam Page
Sandra Park
Dean Parker
Jeff Passanante
Kevin Patterson
Gay Perello
Chrissy Phelan
Taylor Phillips
Eric Potter
Keith Potter
Jennifer Ralston
Eric Ramirez
Paul Ripple
Julian Robhedo
Richard Rodgers
Fred Rosenberg
Jerry Ross
Jerry Ross
Michael D. Roundy
Kei Rowan-young
Albert G. Ruben
Tim Ryan
Amy Schmiederer
Alan J. Schoolcraft
Mark R. Schultz
Kristin Scott
Fred Seibly
Amit Sethi
Ned Shapiro
Janek Sirrs
Alex Soto
Mark A. Sparks
Chris Spellman
Barbara Ann Stein
Neil Stelzner
Pavel Sterba
Lynn Struiksma
Jonathan Styrlund
Karl Suessdorf
Eileen Sullivan
Daniel Sunwoo
Don Tardino
Jon Tardino
Zhanna Tataryan
Film Details
Technical Specs
Award Nominations
Best Cinematography
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working titles of this film were Untitled Barber Movie, Untitled Barber Project and The Barber Movie. The film has a voice-over narration delivered by Billy Bob Thornton as his character, "Ed Crane." Although the narration fluctuates between past and present tense, the entirety of the film is a flashback until the end sequence, when Ed is in prison and writing his memoir for the magazine. "Roderick Jaynes," listed in the onscreen credits as a film editor, is a joint pseudonym used by brothers Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, who, along with Tricia Cooke, edited the film.
The film's end credits include the following acknowledgment: "'Fibber McGee & Molly' Courtesy of NBC Studios and The Museum of Broadcasting Communications, Chicago." The opening and ending cast credits differ slightly in order. According to the presskit, the film was shot at the following Southern California locations: Lincoln Heights Jail in Los Angeles for the jail scene; Don Carlos Stages in East Los Angeles for the courtroom scenes; Musso and Frank's Grill in Hollywood as Da Vinci's restaurant; Thousand Oaks for the wedding reception; a Presbyterian Church on Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles for the Bingo scene; an empty Bank of America branch in downtown Los Angeles as the Santa Rosa bank; a furniture store in Glendale as "Nirdlinger's" department store; the exterior of a Craftsman-style house in the "Bungalow Heaven" neighborhood in Pasadena became the Crane home; an apartment in Castle Green, a hotel-turned-apartment building in Pasadena, served as the piano teacher's studio; and portions of the city of Orange in Orange County doubled as Santa Rosa. Both Michael Badalucco and Thornton trained with barbers to learn how to cut hair; Thornton also briefly trained at Dirty Dan's Clip Joint.
The presskit adds the following information about the production: The picture was shot on color negative film, which was then printed on black-and-white film stock for theatrical exhibition. According to a November 30, 2001 article in Entertainment Weekly, USA Films negotiated with the filmmakers to shoot the picture so that videos could be released in color for European markets. The Man Who Wasn't There emulates the visual style and content of film noir, a genre produced primarily in the 1940s and 1950s. The filmmakers depicted the setting as Santa Rosa, CA because it evoked the 1943 Alfred Hitchcock film Shadow of a Doubt, which was set and filmed in Santa Rosa (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1941-50). Other echoes of a classic film noir May include the character names "Diedrickson" and "Nirdlinger." "Dietrichson" was used for two main characters in the 1944 Paramount film Double Indemnity, directed by Billy Wilder, while "Nirdlinger" was the surname used for the same characters in James M. Cain's novel Double Indemnity, on which the Paramount film was based (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1941-50).
The Man Who Wasn't There tied with David Lynch's Mulholland Dr. for the Best Director Palme d'Or award at the 2001 Cannes International Film Festival. Roger Deakins was selected by AFI as Cinematographer of the Year, and the film was nominated by AFI as Movie of the Year. Other AFI award nominations went to Thornton as AFI Actor of the Year-Male-Movies and to Tony Shalhoub as AFI Featured Actor of the Year-Male-Movies. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association nominated the film for 2001 Golden Globe awards in the following categories: Best Motion Picture Drama, Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama (Thornton) and Best Screenplay (Ethan and Joel Coen). The film also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Cinematography.
Miscellaneous Notes
Voted one of the 10 best films of 2001 by the American Film Institute (AFI).
Winner of the 2001 award for Best Actor (Billy Bob Thornton) from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures.
Winner of the 2001 award for Best Cinematography from the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC).
Winner of the 2001 Golden Satellite Award for Best Cinematography from the International Press Academy.
Winner of the award for Cinematographer of the Year at the 2001 American Film Institute (AFI) Awards. Nominated for a further three awards, including Movie of the Year, Actor of the Year - Male (Billy Bob Thornton) and Featured Actor of the Year - Male (Tony Shalhoub).
Winner of two 2001 awards, including Best Actor (Billy Bob Thornton) and Best Cinematography, from the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS).
Released in United States Fall October 31, 2001
Expanded Release in United States November 2, 2001
Released in United States on Video April 16, 2002
Released in United States 2001
Released in United States August 2001
Released in United States September 2001
Released in United States October 2001
Shown at Deauville Festival of American Film (Avant Premieres/Previews) August 31 - September 9, 2001.
Shown at Edinburgh International Film Festival (Gala) August 12-26, 2001.
Shown at San Sebastian International Film Festival (in competition) September 20-29, 2001.
Shown at Mill Valley Film Festival in Mill Valley, California October 4-14, 2001.
Completed shooting September 1, 2000.
Began shooting June 26, 2000.
Released in United States Fall October 31, 2001
Expanded Release in United States November 2, 2001
Released in United States on Video April 16, 2002
Released in United States 2001 (Shown at Deauville Festival of American Film (Avant Premieres/Previews) August 31 - September 9, 2001.)
Released in United States August 2001 (Shown at Edinburgh International Film Festival (Gala) August 12-26, 2001.)
Released in United States September 2001 (Shown at San Sebastian International Film Festival (in competition) September 20-29, 2001.)
Released in United States October 2001 (Shown at Mill Valley Film Festival in Mill Valley, California October 4-14, 2001.)
Nominated for the 2001 Award for Best Production Design in a Feature Film - Period/Fantasy from the Society of Motion Picture & Television Art Directors/ Art Directors Guild (ADG).
