| | | The greatest criminal minds of all time have finally met their match.
Features: DVD, Pan and Scan (TV Format), Aspect Ratio 1.33:1, Dolby Digital (5.1), Spanish, French Subtitled
Academy Award-winning Tom Hanks (Best Actor, Forrest Gump, 1994; Philadelphia, 1993) turns in a hilariously original performance in The Ladykillers, the laugh-out-loud comedy that explodes with outrageous wit and slapstick humor from the Coen Brothers (O, Brother Where Art Thou?, Fargo). Underneath Professor G.H. Dorr's (Hanks) silver-tongued southern gentleman persona is a devious criminal who has assembled a motley gang of thieves to commit the heist of the century by tunneling through his churchgoing landlady's root cellar to a casino's vault of riches. But these cons are far from pros. As their scheme begins blowing up in their faces, their landlady smells a rat. And when she threatens to call the police, they figure they'll just bump her off. After all, how hard can that be? Wickedly funny from start to finish, it would be a crime to miss The Ladykillers.
"Hanks is terrific giving his first flat-out comic performance in years as a wildly eccentric criminal mastermind." Lou Lumenick, New York Post
"Done with an enticing mixture of lacerating comedy, lush Roger Deakins cinematography, robust acting and juicy lines, the Coens' Ladykillers is often glorious fun to watch." Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
"The Coen brothers merrily subvert that standard caper trope." Richard Shickel, Time
Editor's Note
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.
| Features | "Danny Ferrington: The Man Behind The Band" Featurette--The Master Guitar-Maker Tells All | | "The Gospel Of The Ladykillers" Deleted Music Scenes | | "The Slap Reel" Outtakes | | Audio: English, French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection | | ScriptScanner Enhanced Computer Feature (DVD-ROM) | | Subtitles: English, French, Spanish | | The Slap Reel Outtakes | | Fullscreen Presentation | | Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 | | Danny Ferrington: The Man Behind The Band | | Gospel Of The Ladykillers Deleted Music Scenes | | The Ladykillers Script Scanner (Enhanced Computer Feature-DVD Rom) |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Buena Vista |
| Release Date: 6/6/2006 |
| Running Time: 104 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2004 | | Catalog ID: 3510703 | | UPC: 00786936239492 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English, French Dubbed | | Available Subtitles: French | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Standard 1.33:1 [4:3] |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Cannes (2004) |  | Winner, Jury Prize |
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| | Professional Reviews | New York Times
"What keeps the movie going - aside from the rambunctious performances of Ms. Hall and Mr. Hanks - is the Coens' obsessive devotion to the American vernacular." 03/26/2004 p.E13Los Angeles Times
"[Hanks] works energetically to find the character under the costume and he plows through the screenplay's reams of purple prose with sonorous dexterity." 03/26/2004 p.E1 Entertainment Weekly
"[A]n enjoyably screwy, mad-as-a-hatter remake of the 1955 Alec Guinness comedy." 04/02/2004 p.42-4 USA Today
"Those seeking a quirky and clever comedy should hightail it to THE LADYKILLERS..." 03/26/2004 p.3D Sight and Sound
"The dialogue is predictably a treat..." 07/01/2004 p.54 Premiere
"[D]elightful....[T]he Coens' stylish touch manages to give a holy aura to both the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe and a garbage dump in the middle of the Mississippi." 10/01/2004 p.115 James Berardinelli's ReelViews 8 of 10
Is appreciation of The Ladykillers relegated to those who enjoy the Coens' non-traditional ap
Rolling Stone 5 of 10
Hanks' plummy charm is a major compensation as he mixes it up with his ragtag gang: Lump (Ryan Hurst - Peter Travers
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