The Ladykillers

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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Year:	2004
Country of origin:	USA
Director:	Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Genre:	Crime comedy thriller
Starring:	Tom Hanks, Irma P. Hall, Marlon Wayans, J.K. Simmons, Tzi Ma, Ryan Hurst
Rating:	4/5
IMDB link:	http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0335245/
Tagline:	The greatest criminal minds of all time have finally met their match.
Favourite line:	"Can you wield the device with your maimed extremity?"

The Coen brothers' reinterpretation of a much loved comedy classic (though one I have never, and probably will never see) is by turns irreverent, bland, impressive, over the top, amusing and cringe inducing.
Contradictory to say the least.

Hanks stars as a quirky professor, an academic who has hatched a plan to rob a local floating casino of it's stash of cash. All that stands in his way is several hundred metres of soil, and his irascible landlady, a wonderful turn by Irma P. Hall.
His would be gang of thieves?
A street wise hood, a survivalist IBS sufferer, a terrifying Vietnamese sort called The General and a hunk of thick as pig-shit muscle known simply as Lump.

As ever with the Coen's, it's not about the plot, more about the characters, and the interplay here is almost flawless.
Wayans' gun-toting 'brother' riffs constantly with Simmons' Pancake, and even Hanks' interchanges with his landlady are effective. I say even, as Hanks is an actor I am prone to despise and, if truth be told, his presence in the movie is the only reason this didn't get full marks. He is acting his ass off and, boy, can you tell.
Never a good thing.
Not the Coens' finests hour, but still a highly entertaining movie that is way above the standard of the effects driven dross usually churned out by Hollywood.