Billy Bob Thornton (Bandits, Sling Blade) stars as Ed Crane, a small town barber who lives an unsatisfying existence. Crane seems to sleepwalk and chain-smoke through life. He does not identify himself as a barber or take any pleasure in his job. He just cuts hair in an automated fashion while his brother-in-law Frank (Michael Badalucco, "The Practice") talks at him ceaselessly. His marriage to his wife Doris (Frances McDormand, Fargo) is passionless and he even believes that she is having an affair with her boss, Big Dave (James Gandolfini), the owner of a local department store called Nirdlinger's. However one day at the barber shop changes things for Ed. A toupeed stranger named Creighton Toliver enters the shop for a haircut and shares with Ed his business prospect; Toliver plans to start a revolutionary new enterprise called dry cleaning but is having trouble finding investors to fund this operation. As a result of this meeting, Ed begins to conceive of a new life, and when Big Dave, Doris Crane's suspected lover, comes to dinner and reveals his plans to expand Nirdlinger's, Ed identifies Big Dave as a source for Ed to get the money to invest in dry cleaning. Ed decides to blackmail Big Dave anonymously with knowledge of the affair between he and Doris and threats to expose them. However, the plan does not work out as intended. When Dave finds out that Ed is blackmailing him, everything spirals out of control and effects Ed and everyone around him in unsuspecting ways.
The supporting cast of The Man Who Wasn't There is excellent. Francis McDormand, as usual gives a convincing and intriguing performance as Doris Crane. She manages to give dimension to a traditionally unsympathetic character-a cheating wife who seems to ignore her husband-and inspire empathy on the part of the audience. Other standout performances include Michael Badalucco, who is hilarious as her motormouth brother Frank, and Tony Shalhoub, who is incredible, literally, as fast-talking, equivocating lawyer Freddy Riedenschneider.
Go To Page: 1 2
