Ladykillers (2004)

Ladykillers: Directed by Ethan Coen, Joel Coen. With Tom Hanks, Irma P. Hall, Marlon Wayans, J.K. Simmons. An eccentric, if not charming Southern professor and his crew pose as a classical ensemble in order to rob a casino, all under the nose of his unsuspecting but sharp old landlady.

“The original u0026quot;The Ladykillersu0026quot; is one of my favorite comedies, a gleefully macabre and witty classic with some outstanding performances, especially Alec Guinnessu0026#39; 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.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI think that the poor reception this film got is largely due to its sense of humor. The Coensu0026#39; 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 thereu0026#39;s also a lot of low-brow humor, and not even distinctive or interesting low-brow humor, just u0026#39;haha he dropped an f-bombu0026#39; 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 youu0026#39;ve got this film.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;The Ladykillersu0026quot;, in spite of its awful reputation, is really not a bad film at all. Itu0026#39;s got atmosphere, itu0026#39;s beautifully photographed, itu0026#39;s fairly amusing, and the majority of the performances are very good. Itu0026#39;s inferior by the Coensu0026#39; 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 Mackendricku0026#39;s classic Ealing comedy are translated to the American south. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis is a minor film for the Coens, but obviously one made with love and affection. Itu0026#39;s fairly flawed, but itu0026#39;s also quite amusing and features and outstanding performance from Tom Hanks, an actor I donu0026#39;t normally think is particularly great. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e7/10”