Man Who Wasn't There is lost out of the gate. It's much clearer the second time you view it. It flits between 10 different incompatible story lines, and can't figure out a way to develop any of them. It goes nowhere. Many viewers were tricked into thinking this movie matters due to its cinematography (It looks nice) and by the authors (The Coens continue to receive unearned accolades). It's a bunch of Noir posturing/noodling with scenes designed to kill time, not add up. It drifts and drifts and drifts. It's a catalog of half-hearted, half-developed ideas, so it begins to feel like it's running long after only 20 minutes. Who can tell what they set out to explore? A viewer will never figure out why it was brought into existence because the Coens have not imbued it with any sense of purpose. Long before Burn After Reading, and O Brother, the Coens were making movies that lacked a reason for being.
It's not detestable. It's just all over the place. It's a completely shapeless movie.
It's not detestable. It's just all over the place. It's a completely shapeless movie.