The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)

http://wc03.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:246226

I had never heard of The Man Who Wasn't There until I ran across it by accident through Netflix. The Coen Brothers have produced such a run of lousy movies that I almost did not rent it. I thought it was excellent, with a script and plot that kept throwing you curve balls. I thought I had guessed the ending of this film in the first half hour, but I was wrong. This is a black comedy, but you don't laugh out loud.

IB

Was I the only one who thought Scarlett Johansson was too sexy for words?

Other Coen brother's flicks:

No Country for Old Men - have not seen it

Paris, je t'aime - stunk beyond words, a complete waste of film stock

The Ladykillers - mega-stunk

Intolerable Cruelty - have not seen it - bad reviews

O Brother, Where Art Thou? - stunk with music that stunk as well

The Big Lebowski - stunk big time

Fargo - great

The Hudsucker Proxy - stunk and even the name stunk

Barton Fink - stunk and confused

Miller's Crossing - very good

Raising Arizona - entertaining

Crimewave - have not seen it

Blood Simple - I love it

PS The script of The Man Who Wasn't There was correct in that the first use of the term "flying saucer" occurred in 1947, and the film was set in 1949. I wondered about that and looked it up. About dry cleaning being a new invention in 1949, however, that was not true. Apparently, dry cleaning has been used in the USA throughout the 20th century and was first invented in France in the mid-19th century.

see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_cleaning#History

IB

Here's my spoiler



IB

My bad. It's pronounced the same, isn't it?

IB

Well, I think there is almost universal agreement that Fargo was their best film to date. The Coen brothers obviously smoke the stuff you cannot buy at the store, so maybe that is why their work is so uneven. To go from Fargo to The Big Lebowski is a pretty big step down. They do good work sometimes, but you cannot rely on them.

I have heard TV critics refer to them as "co-hen", so I am not the only one to make that mistake.

IB