Ladykillers (2004)

"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.

	Diane Delano
	George Wallace
	Irma P. Hall
	J.K. Simmons
	John McConnell
	Marlon Wayans
	Ryan Hurst
	Tom Hanks
	Tzi Ma
	Carter Burwell - Original Music By
	Ethan Coen - Director
	Ethan Coen - Screenplay
	Ethan Coen - Editor
	Ethan Coen, et al - Producer
	Joel Coen - Director
	Joel Coen - Editor
	Joel Coen - Screenplay
	Roger Deakins - Cinematographer
	William Rose - Based On Movie By

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.E13

Los 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