Review: The Ladykillers


A gang of crooks led by a Southern sophisticate fond of purple prose (Tom Hanks), masquerade as musicians and rent a room in the basement of crotchety old church lady Mrs. Munson (Irma P. Hall). Here they will pretend to be playing music whilst they are actually digging their way to a riverboat casino full of cash. Marlon Wayans plays Gawain, the ‘hippity-hop’ (as Mrs. Munson calls it- yes, this is the film I stole the phrase from) bane of cranky old Mrs. Munson’s existence. J.K. Simmons is the dopey explosives expert named Garth Pancake. Ryan Hurst and Tzi Ma round out the gang of crooks as lunk-head failed jock Lump, and a deadpan chain-smoker called The General.



2004 misfire from the Coen Brothers (the overrated “Fargo” and underrated “Big Lebowski”) dares to remake the much-loved (myself included) Ealing comedy from 1955. By re-imagining it in the U.S. South, including far too many four-letter words (almost entirely delivered by Wayans, who admittedly made me chuckle more than most of the others), they have pretty much removed anything that made the original so special. Most of the crew in this one are entirely dull (Simmons, Hurst, Tzi Ma), if not inexcusably irritating (guess who?), but the one thing this film does do right is by getting Tom Hanks (having a ham-fisted ball) to play the ringleader. Not only does he have similarly disgraceful teeth to his predecessor Sir Alec Guinness, but his bizarre, very funny Col. Sanders meets Edgar Allen Poe character is the only one that registers at all. He also appears to be the only one involved in the film who has actually seen the original (But I wouldn’t call his performance or character a literal Americanisation of the original). Whenever Hanks (as Professor Goldthwait Higginson Dorr, PhD!) is on screen with Big Mamma herself, Irma P. Hall, the film is quite watchable, otherwise it is unforgivably dull.



Coen Brothers fans (I am not one) who haven’t even heard of the original might get more out of this than I did. Fans of the original best stick with Sir Alec and the 1955 gang, methinks.



Rating: C

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