It's both lowdown and effete, a jamboree of whoopee jokes and sick wit.
Comment
08/07/04
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Ladykillers (2004)
45
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:38
Fresh:17
Rotten:21
Average Rating:5.7/10
Consensus: Hanks' performance in the lead role is inspired, but this is a relatively minor offering from the Coen brothers.
Theatrical Release:Mar 26, 2004 Wide
Box Office: $39,671,084
Synopsis: 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... [More]
Starring: Tom Hanks, Irma P. Hall, Marlon Wayans, J.K. Simmons
Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
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Reviews for Ladykillers
Top CriticEverybody in and around this movie is trying too hard.
08/01/04
Top CriticThere's the mind-numbing oompah rhythm of every gag telegraphed and every joke pounded into the ground.
03/30/04
Top CriticMost of this stuff isn’t worthy of the Farrelly brothers, let alone the Coen brothers.
03/29/04
Top CriticStructured like a Mad magazine parody where there's a promised joke in each frame. It doesn't add up to a movie.
03/27/04
Top CriticThe remake -- which could have been shot anywhere and probably was filmed on a studio back lot -- has almost nothing coherent to say about Mississippi, though it does recycle a few cliches.
03/27/04
Top CriticShould give just about everyone who sees it a few laughs. But it will appeal most strongly to viewers who think Tom Hanks, who plays a thief and a potential murderer, can do no wrong.
03/26/04
Top CriticAlthough The Ladykillers is a skillfully executed caper movie, the fun lies not in its mechanics but in its characterizations, especially Hanks's and Hall's, and especially when they're together.
03/26/04
Top CriticThose seeking a quirky and clever comedy should hightail it to The Ladykillers forthwith.
03/26/04
Top CriticNot quite top-drawer Coen Bros., but good enough to make you wish it were, The Ladykillers is a case of being grateful for small pleasures.
03/26/04
Top CriticNever settles into an assured rhythm, and instead the actors always seem to be pushing, putting the hard sell on an audience that, however distracted by the strenuousness of the sales pitch, still isn't buying.
03/26/04
Top CriticSuddenly the Coen Brothers, of all people, seem to be playing it safe.
03/26/04
Top CriticWorth sticking with for Hanks' and Hall's superlative acting -- and a rollicking gospel score assembled by T. Bone Burnett.
03/26/04
Top Critic[The Coen brothers have] made a broad comedy out of a black comedy and completely lost its charm in the process.
03/26/04
Top CriticAlways wildly signaling for us to notice it. Not content to be funny, it wants to be FUNNY! Have you ever noticed that the more a comedian wears funny hats, the less funny he is?
03/26/04
Top CriticIf you set your expectations low enough there are real laughs to be had, but coming to the Coens with low expectations somehow just feels wrong.
03/26/04
Top CriticFor those who share my taste in comedy, this is a must-not-miss.
03/26/04
Top CriticHanks hasn't cut loose in a comedy like this in years.
03/26/04
Top CriticFor all its idiosyncratic thrusts and jabs, the movie never takes off.
03/26/04
Top CriticHanks appears to be having the time of his life.
03/26/04
Top CriticLatest News for Ladykillers
October 17, 2008:
UK Critics Consensus: Is Burn After Reading A Coens Classic? Does Eagle Eye Have Enough Action, Man?
In this week's roster of UK cinema releases we have the latest addition to the Coen canon in the CIA comedy caper, Burn After Reading, Shia LeBeouf stakes a further claim to the... More...
November 07, 2007:
Total Recall: Welcome to Coen Brothers Country
Before expanding wide on November 21, No Country for Old Men (90 percent) will play in select cities this Friday riding a wave of huge expectations. The Cormac McCarthy-based... More...
March 16, 2007:
"Ocean's 13" Set to Debut at Cannes
If you wanted to be one of the first to see the year's biggest confluence of star power on a single screen, you'd better start shopping for a ticket to France -- Variety reports... More...
February 02, 2006:
Coens Aim to Tackle New "Country"
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Joel & Ethan Coen's next film will be an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's "No Country for Old Men." Word is that Tommy Lee... More...
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