A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

The Evaluation System Reviews by Title Reviews by Date

Reviews from Video Reviews of the Classics Personal Background

Title: The Ladykillers (2004

Date of theatrical release: 2004

Details:

Tom Hanks

Irma P. Hall

Marlon Wayans

J.K. Simmons

Tzi Ma

Ryan Hurst

Written & directed by: Ethan & Joel Coen

Score: -

The Review: The Coen brothers have struck (out) again.

Essentially a caper flick crossed with satire, this is a remake of the classic 1955 British comedy -- originally with Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers -- but with a minimum of style and class. The mastermind of the operation, a bizarrely accented and mannered Professor Dorr (Hanks) holes up in the boarding house of an elderly woman (Hall) and clandestinely uses her basement as the launching pad for the heist of a nearby casino. His equally bizarre cohort in crime is one of the strangest bunch of misfits and quirks you've seen in a long while, but although you'll occasionally grin at some ironic turn, none of the cast inspires confidence, let alone interest. Of course, both being a Coen brothers film and a satire, the heist and its follow-up do not go quite as planned.

Of the Coen brothers' films I remember seeing (Fargo; The Big Lebowski; Brother, Where Art Thou? and Intolerable Cruelty), this is the first that I've actively disliked. The acting was not unreasonable (and for Hanks, I can understand it was a bit of a stretch), but sympathy was hard to come by.

(26-Feb-05)

Back to the chronological list of reviews