The Ladykillers

As a remake this movie falls flat, as a stand alone movie its not too bad and will appeal more to a younger audience and probably mostly American one at that.

Here is the problem with remakes - If you make it exactly like the original then there is little point in remaking it, if you just change the country what is the point when the dialogue and the setting is the exact same almost, with a few words changed here and there... Coupling UK and Coupling USA is a good example... and also maybe Life on Mars. Of course these are TV shows but the comparison stands.

They made this movie very different to the original and shouldn't have called it a remake, or even The Ladykillers. In no way does this resemble the original, which is a classic and is still watchable today but set far in the past when TVs were black and white... is it better than this movie if you are comparing them as the same movie... the original blows this away without a doubt.

So bare that in mind when watching this movie. I wouldn't compare these movies at all, to be honest they are far too different to compare, the only comparison i can come up with is that they have the same name and some of the characters are similar... the scenario is quite different except that they are both about stealing money.

Not a bad or great movie by any means, and i think Hanks character tried to be like the Alec Guinness one, a little strange, and it didn't quite work, for me anyway...

I've seen many bad films at the cinema and regretted paying the price to see it, but I don't think I've ever regretted paying the price for a bad film so much I'd of rather drank a pint of urine. Well that's how I felt after watching this trash. I reluctantly went to see this with some mates thinking it wouldn't be all that bad seeing as it had Tom Hanks in it being a funny-man for once. But after seeing this I couldn't believe I'd even paid to see it. I didn't laugh at one thing in it (and I always have something to laugh at during a comedy even if it's a really bad one). It featured the most annoying performance by Tom Hanks and an even worse film by Marlon Wayans. Now unusually I'm not at all bothered at language in a film but the amount of F***'s by Wayans was just plain stupid. Terrible script. The only really funny thing about this movie was the fact that I paid £3.95 to see it. That and how unfunny it was. On the whole this was the worst comedy I've ever seen and one of the worst films of all time. P.S. There may be worst comedies than this I've seen but this is still bad.

In the annuls of cinema, Character is king. Many can come up with a winning high concept idea but unless you fill it with a rich tapestry of Characters you've wasted time. For the greatest plot idea can become mundane if you've put the wrong character in the wrong place. Joel and Ethan Coen's THE LADYKILLERS is a mundane story that is saved by top notch and very rich performances. Mrs. Munson (Irma P. Hall, Soul Food) is a simple woman. She lives at home alone, she goes to church every Sunday, and she prays for the souls of those young kids listening to that "Hippity Hoppity" music. So when she rents a room to Professor Dorr P.H.D (Tom Hanks, Philadelphia) little does she know that her annual contribution to Bob Jones University will never be the same.

Dorr turns out to be a criminal mastermind, trying to pull off a simple casino robbery. He's acquired a crack team of losers and creeps to pull it off: Gaiwan (Marlon Wayans, Dungeons and Dragons) The Inside Man, Garth Pancake (J.K. Simmons, The First Wives Club) The Munitions Expert, The General (Tzi Ma, The Quiet American) the tactical man, and Lump (Ryan Hurst, Patch Adams) is the muscle. Will they pull off their brilliant plan? Only time and the two-hour running time will tell.

What the Coen's have crafted here is an acquired taste. The comedy is a little bit esoteric. The story plods along with almost reckless abandon, and they use swear words like their trying to buy a Ferrari with their swear jar. But something else is going on under the surface, a great character drama is unfolding.

Hank's overplays Dorr, but only to hide the fact that he might not be nearly as smart as he might claims. It's so subtle, and yet so garish I could see many thinking the performance is too over the top. But Hanks plays it so smartly and charming, you can't help but be enveloped into its complex layers.

I also liked how the Coen's screenplay polarizes it characters by playing the actors against each other. Dorr and Munson relationship works because it's the classic battle between brains and innocence. You may be able to quote Edgar Allen Poe, but if you can't do the right thing maybe you should get a real job.

The other great struggle is between Gaiwan and Garth. Gaiwan is a young black male with no conscience. Garth is a liberal white guy trying to knock sense into this stupid kid. Their escalating story builds from an almost a playful game of Older Vs Younger, but then raises the bar as it escalates into violence.

The Coen's have always had limited appeal because their films are dependent on audience involvement. You have to care for the characters; you have to put yourself in the characters place. Those who don't will leave the theater going that was weird, that was stupid, and that didn't make any sense. But that's why I like their films so much.

THE LADYKILLERS is worth the price of admission if you're interested in a silly and subtle character

drama but fails in plot. But boy it's a lot of fun, and if you give it a chance you might just walk away without that look of confusion you had on your face after THE HUDSUCKER PROXY.

**** out of 5

A group of thieves disguised as musicians hiding out in a sweet old lady's house sounds like a pretty hysterical premise for a movie, and Alec Guiness proved it was in the original film.

The new version, however, only demonstrates how you can start out with a great premise and completely destroy it.

While Hank's performance was funny, it certainly didn't out way all the foul language and meaningless interludes that were supposed to "modernize" the movie. The director and/or writers obviously missed the point and charm of the other movie.

If you like the sound of the plot, don't see this movie, stick with the classic. Let's not change a good thing.

Of course it's not among the Coens' best, and it's also not as good as the original The Ladykillers, but this wasn't nearly as bad as I feared it would be.

JK Simmons, Tzi Ma, and Irma P Hall were all pretty great, it's visually quite nice looking (once you get past the fairly ugly CGI-heavy opening), and there are a few genuinely funny moments, even if the main plot takes a while to actually unfold, and there are certainly some contrivances/logical flaws.

Still, the Coens are great at making dark comedies about stupid and/or arrogant getting wrapped up in criminal activity - see The Big Lebowski, Burn After Reading, and Fargo. This one certainly isn't as good as any of them, but I think there's enough good stuff here to recommend to fans of the Coen Brothers.