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The Man Who Wasn't There

She said that she liked that I didn't talk so much. We got married two weeks later.

A review by Mike Shea   Movie Rating: ( * * * * · )    DVD Rating: ( * * * * · )

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The Man Who Wasn't There is a very rare gem. It's hard to find any movie nowadays that is so willing to ignore the Hollywood stigma of modern movies. This movie is perfect 1950s pulp fiction, straight from the pages of some dog earred yellow trashy detective magazine. "The Man" is a movie that makes you love movies again, and it does it in black and white.

O Brother, Where Art Thou.

You wouldn't think a black and white movie trying to look like it was made fifty years ago needs a high end DVD transfer, but it sure helps. This DVD has a 1.85 to 1 16x9 enhanced picture and a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Niether of these features call attention to themselves, but both are very important for such a great film. Edges are sharp and contrast is solid. The DVD also includes a director's commentary with the Coen brothers and Billy Bob Thornton.

It was a real pleasure to find such a simple yet excellent film on that lonely Saturday night. In the tracks of Hitchcock, the Coen brothers put together a dark and sinister movie. Spoken with shifty eyes and thick smoke, The Man Who Wasn't There tells a tale found at the bottom of a mildewed bag of old paperback books in the abandoned cellar an ant infested New York apartment. It's great.