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Ladykillers

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Ladykillers (2004)

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Reviews Counted:182

Fresh:100

Rotten:82

Average Rating:6.1/10

Consensus: Hanks' performance in the lead role is inspired, but this is a relatively minor offering from the Coen brothers.

Runtime: 1 hr 44 mins

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: It is always difficult to try to recreate a classic movie, so Joel and Ethan Coen took the premise of Alexander Mackendrick's beloved 1955 Ealing Studio caper comedy, THE LADYKILLERS, as the basis... It is always difficult to try to recreate a classic movie, so Joel and Ethan Coen took the premise of Alexander Mackendrick's beloved 1955 Ealing Studio caper comedy, THE LADYKILLERS, as the basis for coming up with their own entertaining and bizarre remake. Tom Hanks stars as Goldthwait Higginson Dorr, Ph.D., a would-be professor who talks his way into the root cellar of Mrs. Munson (Irma P. Hall), where he and his supposed band will practice their "Renaissance music." But they are actually plotting to tunnel through to steal a mint from a riverboat casino. The motley crew of incompetent criminals includes Marlon Wayans as Gawain MacSam, a hip-hoppity thug pretending to be a janitor; J.K. Simmons as movie prop man and demolition "expert" Garth Pancake, who has problems with intestinal bowel syndrome; Tzi Ma as the General, a Vietnamese tunnel rat with a Hitler mustache; and Ryan Hurst as a pathetically dumb football wannabe named Lump. Just when they think all is going well, they run into a curious Mrs. Munson, who smells something funny. The film includes several exhilarating Gospel scenes set in southern churches, and lots of riotous site gags. The Coen brothers have done it yet again. [More]

Starring: Tom Hanks, Irma P. Hall, Marlon Wayans, J.K. Simmons

Starring: Tom Hanks, Irma P. Hall, Marlon Wayans, J.K. Simmons, Tzi Ma, Ryan Hurst, Diane Delano, George Wallace, Stephen Root

Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Screenwriter: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Producer: Barry Josephson, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Tom Jacobson, Barry Sonnenfeld
Composer: Carter Burwell, T-Bone Burnett
Studio: Touchstone Pictures

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Reviews for Ladykillers

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1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; UK critics are listed first)
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Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
03/06/05
Independent

'Frankly, this doesn't have that Coen magic.'

Full Review Source: Teletext | comment Comment
05/19/04
Annette Dasey
Annette Dasey
Teletext

It is neither terrible nor terrific, just... unnecessary.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
06/22/04
Nev Pierce
Nev Pierce
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

While being far from the Coens' finest hour, it remains more intelligent and ambitious than most of what currently passes for Hollywood mainstream comedy.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Even a less-than-spec Coen movie is a good deal better than the aimless, guileless pap cranked out by mere mortals.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
07/03/04
Ian Nathan
Ian Nathan
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The Coens have found their stride again.

Full Review Source: FilmFocus | comment Comment
07/20/04
Joe Utichi
Joe Utichi
FilmFocus

Enjoyable Coen caper, enlivened by a strong comic performance by Tom Hanks.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
07/03/04
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

The Coens play gleefully with death--accidental, deliberate, fatalistic--while catching us off-guard with startlingly funny touches when we least expect them.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
04/18/04
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
03/26/04
Boston Phoenix
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
03/26/04
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
04/29/09
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/18/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile

[It] isn’t just a misfire, it’s an annoying misfire, irksome, tedious, and on the whole, unnecessary.

Full Review Source: Killer Movie Reviews | comment Comment
03/24/04
Andrea Chase
Andrea Chase
Killer Movie Reviews

Uninvolving and tedious rendition of the 1955 British classic, film is too slow at the gate with longwinded speeches bogging down the momentum.

Full Review Source: Sympatico.ca | comment Comment
03/29/04
Angela Baldassarre
Angela Baldassarre
Sympatico.ca

Everybody in and around this movie is trying too hard.

Full Review Source: New Yorker | comment Comment
08/01/04
Anthony Lane
Anthony Lane
New Yorker

Infectious gospel music gets the film in gear again as its droopy pacing and shortage of wit threaten to drag it down to irremediable sluggishness.

Full Review Source: culturevulture.net | comment Comment
03/25/04
Arthur Lazere
Arthur Lazere
culturevulture.net

Instead of feeling cleverly obtuse, the movie ... seems desperately wacky.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
03/25/04
Bill Muller
Bill Muller
Arizona Republic

The Coen brothers seem to have relocated to a ZIP code where blander movies are made.

Full Review Source: San Jose Mercury News | comment Comment
03/25/04
Bruce Newman
Bruce Newman
San Jose Mercury News

Structured like a Mad magazine parody where there's a promised joke in each frame. It doesn't add up to a movie.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
03/27/04
Charles Taylor
Charles Taylor
Salon.com

Pious, earnest, and broadly drawn, Marva is the first black character in a Coen brothers movie to occupy center stage. For a minute, anyway.

Full Review Source: Nitrate Online | comment Comment
03/26/04
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
Nitrate Online
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 >> >|
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Latest News for Ladykillers

October 17, 2008: UK Critics Consensus: Is Burn After Reading A Coens Classic? Does Eagle Eye Have Enough Action, Man?
In this week's roster of UK cinema releases we have the latest addition to the Coen canon in the CIA comedy caper, Burn After Reading, Shia LeBeouf stakes a further claim to the... More...

November 07, 2007: Total Recall: Welcome to Coen Brothers Country
Before expanding wide on November 21, No Country for Old Men (90 percent) will play in select cities this Friday riding a wave of huge expectations. The Cormac McCarthy-based... More...

March 16, 2007: "Ocean's 13" Set to Debut at Cannes
If you wanted to be one of the first to see the year's biggest confluence of star power on a single screen, you'd better start shopping for a ticket to France -- Variety reports... More...

February 02, 2006: Coens Aim to Tackle New "Country"
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Joel & Ethan Coen's next film will be an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's "No Country for Old Men." Word is that Tommy Lee... More...

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