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The
Coen brothers never cease to amaze me with their wacky and just plain unusual films.
This remake of the 1950s classic places Tom Hanks at the helm of a mismatched group of
criminals. Hanks plays Professor G.H. Dorr, Ph.D., an intellectual Southern gentleman
who gathers a team of stereotypical criminals (the muscle, the inside man…) to rob a
casino riverboat. To do so, he rents a room in the home of sweet, unsuspecting old Marva
Munson (Irma P. Hall) and plans to tunnel from Mrs. Munson’s basement into the casino’s
secret underground vault. In order to cover up their plot, they pose as Renaissance
musicians who practice religiously in the basement.
The Ladykillers
definitely isn’t my favorite Coen brothers film (I think I’d have to reserve that honor
for Raising
Arizona). But despite the fact that it’s a remake, it’s still totally Coen
brothers. The characters are wonderfully overdone (like the eccentric Professor Dorr,
who looks more like an old Civil War-time plantation owner than a twenty-first century
college professor). Tom Hanks does an excellent job in his quirky role, and the rest of
the cast plays right along—though Marlon Wayans’s crude and not-so-bright character
becomes pretty annoying after a while. The characters, their instruments, their
actions…it’s all just pleasingly peculiar—exactly what you’d expect from the Coen
brothers.
The Ladykillers has a laid-back, relaxed pace that fits
perfectly with its Southern setting, but that means it’s not as fast-paced and
action-packed (or as outrageously hilarious) as you might expect. At times, I’ll admit
that I found it to be a bit slow. Still, it’s unlike anything else that you’ll see in
theaters (or on the shelves at your local video store) these days (except, perhaps, for
other Coen brothers movies), and that makes it well worth checking out. And when the
movie’s over, don’t take the DVD out of the player without watching the “Slap Reel”—which
is just one big, long, side-splitting sequence of Irma P. Hall repeatedly smacking Marlon
Wayans upside the head.
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