Ladykillers

I could not stop laughing and enjoyed it tremendously. Tom Hanks was simply delightful pretending to be refined, highly educated, charmingly polite and smooth talking Rococo music lover Professor G.H.Darr who in reality was a very dangerous, ruthless and devious criminal that assembled the most hilarious gang of thieves (each has his special talent) to dig the tunnel through his landlady's root cellar to a casino vault and to steal 1.6 million dollars. As good as Hanks was, he was completely upstaged by Irma Hall who steals the movie as Marva. She received many awards for her acting and very deservingly. I know that many Coens' fans don't like The Ladykillers because 1. it is a remake of the 1955 movie with the same title and 2. because it is one of their most mainstream films. I don't care - "The Ladykillers" has Coens' signatures all over - it is very funny, very dark, and uniquely beautiful visually - just remember the opening scene with two scary gargoyles and the garbage barge.

I've seen many bad films at the cinema and regretted paying the price to see it, but I don't think I've ever regretted paying the price for a bad film so much I'd of rather drank a pint of urine. Well that's how I felt after watching this trash. I reluctantly went to see this with some mates thinking it wouldn't be all that bad seeing as it had Tom Hanks in it being a funny-man for once. But after seeing this I couldn't believe I'd even paid to see it. I didn't laugh at one thing in it (and I always have something to laugh at during a comedy even if it's a really bad one). It featured the most annoying performance by Tom Hanks and an even worse film by Marlon Wayans. Now unusually I'm not at all bothered at language in a film but the amount of F***'s by Wayans was just plain stupid. Terrible script. The only really funny thing about this movie was the fact that I paid £3.95 to see it. That and how unfunny it was. On the whole this was the worst comedy I've ever seen and one of the worst films of all time. P.S. There may be worst comedies than this I've seen but this is still bad.

A group of thieves disguised as musicians hiding out in a sweet old lady's house sounds like a pretty hysterical premise for a movie, and Alec Guiness proved it was in the original film.

The new version, however, only demonstrates how you can start out with a great premise and completely destroy it.

While Hank's performance was funny, it certainly didn't out way all the foul language and meaningless interludes that were supposed to "modernize" the movie. The director and/or writers obviously missed the point and charm of the other movie.

If you like the sound of the plot, don't see this movie, stick with the classic. Let's not change a good thing.

The original "The Ladykillers" is one of my favorite comedies, a gleefully macabre and witty classic with some outstanding performances, especially Alec Guinness' hysterical performance. It was also distinctively British. Now, I am not nearly as annoyed by remakes as many other filmgoers are- I merely find most of them unnecessary and hence avoid most of them. The only ones I respect are those that attempt to do something different. The Coens are probably my favorite living directors and among the more distinctive currently working, and they certainly put their own spin on an established comedy classic with this film.

I think that the poor reception this film got is largely due to its sense of humor. The Coens' dry wit present in several of their films is present here, mostly through the main character Professor Dorr, portrayed excellently by Tom Hanks in one of his better performances, but there's also a lot of low-brow humor, and not even distinctive or interesting low-brow humor, just 'haha he dropped an f-bomb' sort, which is really at odds with the rest of this film. Really, take out Marlon Wayans and his annoying character and you would have one of the best remakes ever made. Instead you've got this film.

"The Ladykillers", in spite of its awful reputation, is really not a bad film at all. It's got atmosphere, it's beautifully photographed, it's fairly amusing, and the majority of the performances are very good. It's inferior by the Coens' standards but still better than most comedies released in 2004. In addition, although it takes a lot of liberties with the original story, it recreates the most memorable sequences from the original with care and obvious affection, resulting in a hugely entertaining last twenty minutes in which so many memorable images from Mackendrick's classic Ealing comedy are translated to the American south.

This is a minor film for the Coens, but obviously one made with love and affection. It's fairly flawed, but it's also quite amusing and features and outstanding performance from Tom Hanks, an actor I don't normally think is particularly great.

7/10

In the annuls of cinema, Character is king. Many can come up with a winning high concept idea but unless you fill it with a rich tapestry of Characters you've wasted time. For the greatest plot idea can become mundane if you've put the wrong character in the wrong place. Joel and Ethan Coen's THE LADYKILLERS is a mundane story that is saved by top notch and very rich performances. Mrs. Munson (Irma P. Hall, Soul Food) is a simple woman. She lives at home alone, she goes to church every Sunday, and she prays for the souls of those young kids listening to that "Hippity Hoppity" music. So when she rents a room to Professor Dorr P.H.D (Tom Hanks, Philadelphia) little does she know that her annual contribution to Bob Jones University will never be the same.

Dorr turns out to be a criminal mastermind, trying to pull off a simple casino robbery. He's acquired a crack team of losers and creeps to pull it off: Gaiwan (Marlon Wayans, Dungeons and Dragons) The Inside Man, Garth Pancake (J.K. Simmons, The First Wives Club) The Munitions Expert, The General (Tzi Ma, The Quiet American) the tactical man, and Lump (Ryan Hurst, Patch Adams) is the muscle. Will they pull off their brilliant plan? Only time and the two-hour running time will tell.

What the Coen's have crafted here is an acquired taste. The comedy is a little bit esoteric. The story plods along with almost reckless abandon, and they use swear words like their trying to buy a Ferrari with their swear jar. But something else is going on under the surface, a great character drama is unfolding.

Hank's overplays Dorr, but only to hide the fact that he might not be nearly as smart as he might claims. It's so subtle, and yet so garish I could see many thinking the performance is too over the top. But Hanks plays it so smartly and charming, you can't help but be enveloped into its complex layers.

I also liked how the Coen's screenplay polarizes it characters by playing the actors against each other. Dorr and Munson relationship works because it's the classic battle between brains and innocence. You may be able to quote Edgar Allen Poe, but if you can't do the right thing maybe you should get a real job.

The other great struggle is between Gaiwan and Garth. Gaiwan is a young black male with no conscience. Garth is a liberal white guy trying to knock sense into this stupid kid. Their escalating story builds from an almost a playful game of Older Vs Younger, but then raises the bar as it escalates into violence.

The Coen's have always had limited appeal because their films are dependent on audience involvement. You have to care for the characters; you have to put yourself in the characters place. Those who don't will leave the theater going that was weird, that was stupid, and that didn't make any sense. But that's why I like their films so much.

THE LADYKILLERS is worth the price of admission if you're interested in a silly and subtle character

drama but fails in plot. But boy it's a lot of fun, and if you give it a chance you might just walk away without that look of confusion you had on your face after THE HUDSUCKER PROXY.

**** out of 5