As Good As It Gets

Absolutely Fantastic

The acting in this movie is really good.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The year is 1949. Ed Crane (Billy Bob Thornton) is a barber with a generally uneventful life. He suspects his wife Doris Crane (Frances McDormand) is having an affair with her boss Dave Brewster (James Gandolfini), and he has little connection with her. So when a customer at the barber shop Creighton Tolliver (Jon Polito) tells Ed about putting up $10,000 in the new technology of dry cleaning, Ed decides to blackmail Brewster anonymously to get the money. The plan goes awry and the movie turns into a suspense based drama. The movie is great. The classic black and white cinematography, along with the acting cement the laconic late 40s tone. I always enjoy the Coen brothers, and although The Man who Wasn't There is one of the less known works it should not be overlooked.

Coen brothers... This movie so much reminds me of No Country For Old Men which is another movie of these two brothers. I found out that are the same directors and writers of these movies after watching No Country For Old Men and i just assumed that maybe are the same directors and i get it. They have the same feeling, emotions and very good psychological side of the story. In both of the movies characters don't say too much words, but in The Man Who Wasn't There, Ed Crane had too many internal monologues, which i think it's good. I love that. Billy Bob Thornton was brilliant in this movie. His voice has that dramatic feeling and destroys any other atmosphere. In that moments you are focused only to his voice.Movie is black and white, which is wonderful because the story takes in the older times. That's another factor who give us mysterious and dramatic atmosphere.I like the cinematography and actors very much. The cinematographer is Roger Deakins who rules this job in every movie he doing. Of other actors, i love Tony Shalhoub. He surprise me in every role he played. He could be also very good for character like Ed Crane. He discover that to us in TV Series Monk. Other actors are great also, except Scarlett Johansson. I don't like her. She didn't surprise me in any movie where she played. She is just very attractive, and that's all.Story is a little simply. There's missing something. Something that people will not expected. You expecting the death of Ed Crane far from the end. And it's like in No Country For Old Men, just happens something you expected, and that's the end. But, all others stuffs which adorn the whole movie are great and if you have time, don't miss that chance to watch it.

With all due respected, I've just finished watching this film and I really can't understand why people enjoy it so much. I mean, the story is intelligent and I can agree with that, but there are so many twists that I couldn't, any longer, get what was going on. I didn't understand who killed who, and the reason for that. And what about the aliens? What do they have to do with the whole story? Also, I got confused with Frank and Big Daver; in my opinion, they were portrayed by too similar actors, with caused some mess in a black and white picture. I understand that there is some great acting-- with exception of Scarlett Johansson , who looked shallow in this, which is unusual for her--, but the movie as a whole is just too boring, slow and twisted to be enjoyable. This is the second time I have problems with a Joel Coen work, and maybe that's just my personal view on his productions-- or maybe it's just quite bad anyways.

The Coen Brothers don't make bad original films, some of them are not as strong as others, but they all have well crafted interesting scripts, usually involving someone ordinary getting themselves involved in something criminal, usually with devastating results and some macabre humour just to keep things relatable.The Man Who Wasn't There is a great film, beautifully shot with every frame being meticulously crafted and iconic. Ed the Barber utters few words throughout the entire film yet he steals every scene with his 50s style film star stares and constant smoking. The smoke is one of the best actors in the whole thing, adding layers of movement to every black and white frame.The plot does get a little predictable at times, but this doesn't detract from a solid interesting piece of cinema, and the whole thing is peppered with Coen Brother traits which make it a must see for any fan of their work, and maybe even a good place to start for any Coen virgins.This is one that does improve with subsequent viewings, but might be a little slow paced for someone looking for more popcorn drama, there are some tense moments, but overall this is a character study through a 50s noir pallet.Worth a watch