I was going to write about the strike in Times Square yesterday. Then I changed my mind. Maybe I’ll do that tomorrow.

THE RELUCTANT FILM CRITIC’S CORNER:

“The Man Who Wasn’t There” (2001)

Throughout their impressively durable careers, the Coen Brothers have bounced back-and-forth between wall-to-wall goof-fests (“Raising Arizona,” “O Brother Where Art Thou?”) and seriously intense thrillers (“Blood Simple,” “Fargo.”) Personally, I’ve always preferred the latter group to the former (I mean, what exactly is the “goddamned pediphernilius?”), and lucky for me, “The Man Who Wasn’t There” falls neatly into that category.

Joel and Ethan’s latest outing features Billy Bob Thornton as a barber named Ed Crane. Ed suspects his wife—played by Coens’ regular Frances McDormand—is cheating on him with department store magnate Big Dan (James Gandolfini). So the barber blackmails the businessman. As in “Blood Simple” and “Fargo,” something unexpected turns the plot upside-down. I won’t give away the details—I’ll just mention it involves a glass-encased office that resembles the opening scene of “Double Indemnity”—but after that, we’re never really sure where the story’s going to go (That's a good thing.)

This movie represents the seventh consecutive collaboration between the Coens and cinematographer Roger Deakins. He should be an honorary Coen; his visual skills have as much to do with the Brothers’ success as the writing and directing. The movie was shot in black-and-white—a first for the kings of independent film. Deakins’ seems to have had no trouble adjusting. Check out the bathtub scene in particular—black shadows, white skin, grey water—it’s all cool.

Personally, I wish the Coens would make more films like “The Man Who Wasn’t There,” as opposed to oddities like “O Brother Where Art Thou?” I’m not sure why the Coens regularly make films where everybody behaves like a googly-eyed eccentric. Maybe it’s something they have to get out of their system. There seems to be a discernible pattern: non-serious movie first, then serious one. Not that “The Man Who Wasn’t There” is as serious as a Greek tragedy. There are Coen Brothers touches: a grown man riding a pig, and this recurring subplot about UFOs. I guess it shows that the Brothers have yet to compromise their vision. Perfect example: Even in our current tobacco-villifying times, the filmmakers have Billy Bob going through as many cigarettes as the real actor goes through wives.