
The Man Who Wasn’t There. 2001. USA. Directed by Joel Coen. Screenplay by Joel Coen, Ethan Coen. With Billy Bob Thornton, Frances McDormand, Michael Badalucco. 35mm. 116 min.
Ed and Doris, the sort of couple you see in a restaurant who don't speak or make eye contact, are angry, trapped, and about to burst, but polite convention keeps the fury tamped down. Until Ed gets gets pulled into a get-rich-quick scheme—and something very bad happens. Shot in a gorgeously crisp black-and-white, The Man Who Wasn’t There is a deceptively complicated film hidden in a familiar film noir formula.