In The Coen Brothers' The Man Who Wasn't There, Billy Bob Thornton plays eternal loser Ed Crane, an impassive, chain-smoking man of very few words who works in his brother-in-law's barber shop in the North Californian town of Santa Rosa. The fatalistic noir plot grinds into action when he begins to suspect his wife Doris (Frances McDormand) is having an affair with her boss (James Gandolfini).

When a would-be dry cleaning entrepreneur (Jon Polito) proposes a cash injection of $10,000 and 50% of the profits, Crane sees a way of escaping from his life and decides to try his hand at blackmail. Naturally, nothing goes to plan and with remorseless logic the script proceeds to throw in a few grim twists and also some genuine tragedy. Boasting gorgeous black-and-white cinematography, and typically snappy dialogue, The Man Who Wasn't There is The Coen Brothers at their genre-bending best.