Surprisingly incoherent and boring

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

A film that never lets you know where it's headed. The Coen Brothers set a tone of dark poetry, with the deep voice of narrator Billy Bob Thornton and a sonata by Bethoven guiding you through the fog of this man's life. A fog indeed, to himself and to others. He exists mainly in his mind, he is like a ghost. The movie takes us into this man's thoughts, a very silent man, polite, good looking, a simple man with no great intentions. But a writer, a poet. In his mind where the movie is set. Sometimes he does things, but it seems to be more in order to see what will happen. Not so much that he might care what will happen, but just to see. Just so that he can think about it. Rather than nothing. He doesn't seem particularly bored. He doesn't seem particularly sad. But he does seem to be always feeling. Things go badly, because he did something bad, and then he deals with the consequences and that's it, things kinda happen.

Movie in black and white with a story with different twists which could be out of a Hitchcock-movie. But My God, what is this a slow movie and I had to do my best not to fall asleep. The acting is nice but the voice-over contributes to the slowness and sleep-inducing atmosphere. Also there are some unclear flash-backs... It is all about a barber who wants to participate in a dry-cleaning deal and although his first hunch is that it is a swindle he gets the necessary 10000usd by blackmailing his wife's boss. But it stays unclear why he does not trust his instinct.... What also is a mystery to me is that his fingerprints are on the knife which he used to kill his wife's boss accidentally but the cops do nothing with that and arrest his wife because she helped her boss to falsify the figures in the books. But the biggest problem with this movie is that it lacks pace and should have been in color as I really do not see that this black & white does anything good for the movie. If you can watch this movie for free and have nothing else to do that watch it, otherwise do not waste time and/or money on it.

Ed Crane (Billy Bob Thornton) is a barber working at his in laws' barber shop. He's relatively unhappy with his life and suspects that his wife Doris Crane (Frances McDormand) is having an affair with her boss Big Dave Brewster (James Gandolfini). Ed gets talking to one of his customers who offers him a stake in his dry cleaning business if Ed stumps up $10,000. Ed doesn't have the money, but hatches a plan to get the money. However, Ed quickly learns that his simple and seemingly flawless plan ends up having far reaching consequences.I know that the Coen Brothers have a die hard cult following of fans, but I've never really been one of them. In fact, I've actually disliked nearly all of their films that I've seen. However, this film is different - this film really impressed me.This film is basically a Cautionary Tale - the Coen Brothers have actually made their audience consider the devastating consequences resulting in being greedy. They also make the audience consider the devastating consequences that one poorly judged action can have on many different people.The Coen Brothers have also created many characters that are not only well developed, but that we can also identify with. Ed Crane is probably the best example; for me he's an idealist, someone who wants to be recognised and remembered, someone who wants to be somebody. This becomes more apparent when he meets Birdy Abunbdas (Scarlett Johansson). Birdy becomes his project or possibly even his redemption. What I liked about Ed is that he was a flawed person rather than a bad person which meant that it was easier to relate to and care for his character. Birdy was an interesting character and it was a shame that her character wasn't developed quite as much as I hoped for - there was a lot of potential with her character which the Coen brothers didn't explore for some reason.I'll admit that in the early stages of this film that I thought the narrative was a bit shaky and found it a bit nonsensical, but as the film progressed I found myself more and more engrossed and thought that everything ended up being tied together nicely. As mentioned. it's a Cautionary Tale and is a film that will certainly make you think.The film is well-shot and the 1940's era has been captured well. Acting was roundly good across the board with Gandolfini and Coen brothers favourite McDormand arguably putting in the best performances.Overall then this is a very good film (and that's coming from someone who isn't a big Coen brothers fan). I thought that the writing was sharp, the acting was good, the plot was interesting (after a bit of a plodding first half). This is a good piece of noir and a very good film in general. Highly recommended for fans of noir or fans of the Coen brothers.

Interpret is the art of conveying emotions of a character to the viewers. Based on this premise, Billy Bob Thornton gives us a masterly interpretation. Notice: the character (Ed Crane) is introspective and he keeps all his feelings for him, until an opportunity arises in which he will externalize it. The safe hands of director Joel Cohen the movie unfolds without the viewer be aware of the time.How many movies did you see with this attribute? I'm sure you may count... from to one to ....? Ladies and Gentlemen: this is movie! And movie with capital "m". In order not to spoil the surprises (especially in the final minutes) I will refrain from quoting scenes. On a scale 1-10 I vote 9.