MovieChat Forums > The Man Who Wasn't There (2001) Discussion > Did he kill his wife?

Did he kill his wife?

posted 12 years ago by TheEtherWalk
10 replies | jump to latest

I'm watching this movie for the 20th time or so (it gets better every time) and I'm really starting to more and more see Ed as an unreliable narrator, maybe an outright liar. It's all a story he's writing to a men's magazine. He can say whatever he feels like. What if he lied about Doris's suicide? Why would she kill herself at 3 months pregnant when there was a good chance she might be acquitted? If the pregnancy out of wedlock was the reason why didn't she do it when she first stopped having her time of the month? What if Ed brought her that dress, saw that she was pregnant, and killed her with the belt? Maybe he saw her as the source of all the misery in his life. She cheated on him, all they did together was play bingo, she was an atheist, and maybe even something about her attitude towards that salesman. She was a drinker and a racist. She hated her family. Doris's attitudes rubbed off on Ed. Maybe he wasn't always laconic and depressed. If he ever loved her he would have told the truth to get her acquitted.

If he lied about this, what else do you suppose he lied about? Just like Dave making up all his war stories... Maybe he caused the crash not by telling Birdy to stop, he probably told her to keep going... I truly believe that Ed is a very sick and dangerous person who definitely deserved his fate. But in his story he presents himself as a victim of circumstance, having no regrets and having a religious rebirth while waiting for execution. He's either lying or completely delusional. Either way he's crazy.

BTW if Big Dave beat the truth out of Tolliver why didn't he get his money back? Did Ed keep his money after he asked Tolliver if he was going to screw him? Maybe Ed actually did kill Tolliver? I might be reaching with that one but I think Ed kept the money.

Another thing I just noticed, you never see Ed grab the knife off the table when he's fighting Big Dave. His hands grasp but he comes up with nothing. Maybe he had the knife in his pocket? Maybe he took it during the party at Nirdlinger's and brought it with him that night. I think he was planning on killing Big Dave too! Can you believe anything in Ed's story?

Quite exciting, this computer magic!

[–] therealman 12 years ago

She was in jail. There is no way he could have killed her.

[–] TheEtherWalk 12 years ago

He said he brought her a dress then she used the belt to kill herself. He might have brought it to her personally? Would the guards have let him visit her unsupervised?

Quite exciting, this computer magic!

[–] therealman 12 years ago

She used the belt from the dress to hang herself. He would have had to over power her and make it look like a suicide. Unlikely, he could do that without being over heard and he didn't seem to care enough to kill her. He even admitted to the killing to save her life.

[–] TheEtherWalk 12 years ago

Yeah but he didn't really admit it. The lawyer thought it was just a story they could use to get her off, and when he said "you can't help each other like that" Ed never mentions it again. Ed is so passive about everything in his life falling apart. He had so many chances to turn it around and tell the entire truth, but he waits until he's on death row to tell the truth to some men's magazine instead of turning himself in when it really mattered.

Even when Ed tells the truth he's still lying. He tells her he killed him because of the affair, in order to look like a loving husband, when it was actually blackmail and a self-defense killing. Ed hated his life with Doris, his job, he hated Frankie. He let them all get screwed because he's a hateful and evil person. It's not a twist of fate that leads him to death row but his own actions and inactions. "Life has dealt me some bum cards. Or maybe I just haven't played them right, I dunno." This line always makes me laugh because he's so blind to the truth.

Maybe he didn't kill her but he might as well have. I think this movie has been largely misinterpreted and most people missed how evil Ed really is. The more you look at him, the less sense it all makes.

Quite exciting, this computer magic!

[–] cobb-wt 11 years ago

Why would she kill herself at 3 months pregnant when there was a good chance she might be acquitted?

She killed herself because she was 3 months pregnant. Ed says he didn't find out why she killed herself until later, and later the medical examiner tells him she was pregnant.

After living in a loveless marriage, being outed for an affair, losing her lover(and father of the unborn), and being arrested for the murder of her lover, she realizes even with an acquittal she'll be going back to that loveless life.

Having a bastard child and living with the man who killed its father/her lover was just too much shame to bear after the whole ordeal.

[–] ItsFreakinSteve 10 years ago

I think you're missing another part of why she killed herself, she only does so after hearing about Big Dave's military history. Basically that he was a phony and not the macho war hero that she thought he was. This was the angle I saw anyway, after my first viewing. I want to rewatch this scene, but it makes sense in context of the dinner party where she is laughing at all of Dave's stupid war stories.

[–] ossyguy 10 years ago

He didn't kill anyone ....except big Dave that is.

They're paying me five cents per word..

[–] Hurry_up_N_buy 9 years ago

I think you're missing another part of why she killed herself, she only does so after hearing about Big Dave's military history. Basically that he was a phony and not the macho war hero that she thought he was. This was the angle I saw anyway, after my first viewing. I want to rewatch this scene, but it makes sense in context of the dinner party where she is laughing at all of Dave's stupid war stories.

It might be a stretch but you just might have something there.

She didn't want it to be revealed that she was pregnant by this man who is not her husband and also, because of their defense, will be outed in the courtroom as a lying buffoon.

People hate what's popular and people jump on bandwagons. The rest of us are in the middle. Done.

[–] justbobkc 8 years ago

Just watching it now.

I don't think we can believe the Scarlett Johansson character just voluntarily was figting to give him a BJ.

[–] Jack-Nance 8 years ago

I think she couldn't face Ed anymore. Look at how she looks at Ed after he says he killed Big Dave; it's not hatred but more like shame. I don't think before that point she ever even really considered that Ed loved her. And now - even though the story Ed was telling wasn't entirely true - she saw that he did. This combined with the fact that she was 3 months pregnant with her and Big Dave's child would be a constant reminder of this guilt.

She was an accountant and the books just weren't clean anymore.