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Movies / On DVD / Ladykillers
Ladykillers

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Ladykillers (2004)

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Reviews Counted:7

Fresh:3

Rotten:4

Average Rating:5.5/10

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 - 7 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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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
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It is neither terrible nor terrific, just... unnecessary.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
06/22/04
Nev Pierce
Nev Pierce
BBC
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Always wildly signaling for us to notice it. Not content to be funny, it wants to be FUNNY! Have you ever noticed that the more a comedian wears funny hats, the less funny he is?

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
03/26/04
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Grounded in caricature and played for loud, unmodulated laughs, the film suffers from the same problems that affected the Coens' other big dud, The Hudsucker Proxy -- namely, little fun and no heartbeat.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
03/25/04
Manohla Dargis
Manohla Dargis
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Tom Hanks seizes the chance to play a comic villain with almost indecent vaudevillian glee in this uneven, prankish caper comedy by Joel and Ethan Coen.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
03/25/04
A.O. Scott
A.O. Scott
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The Coens' remake of a comedy classic flounders amid extreme caricatures and stained humor.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
03/18/04
Kirk Honeycutt
Kirk Honeycutt
Hollywood Reporter
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1 - 7 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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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?
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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"
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