The Ladykillers

Name: The Ladykillers
Genre: Thriller, Comedy, Crime
Released: March 26, 2004
Duration: 104 min
Rating: 56
Cast: Irma P. Hall, Marlon Wayans, Tom Hanks

2004

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Mixed or average reviews based on 40 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 79 Ratings

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6.1	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 79 Ratings

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The Ladykillers

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Movie Details & Credits

Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: March 26, 2004 | R

Starring: Irma P. Hall, Marlon Wayans, Tom Hanks

Summary: This retelling of the critically acclaimed 1955 comedy stars Hanks as Goldthwait Higginson Dorr III, Ph.D., a charlatan professor who's assembled a gang of "experts" for the heist of the century. (Touchstone Pictures)

Director: Ethan Coen and Joel Coen

Genre(s): Thriller, Comedy, Crime

Rating: R

Runtime: 104 min

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Critic Reviews

M. E. Russell

For a certain brand of film geek, the best news about The Ladykillers is that it isn't a Tom Hanks movie. It's a Coen brothers movie. Read full review

Keith Phipps

Already as dark as London soot, the comedy hardly needed work to bring it in line with the Coen brothers' sensibility, but the remake moves to a beat of its own, one unexpectedly in sync with the gospel music dominating its soundtrack. Read full review

Claudia Puig

A Southern-style "Ocean's 11" without the pretty boys and Vegas attitude but with plenty of laughs. Read full review

Dana Stevens

Unquestionably minor, perhaps deliberately so, but it is nonetheless intermittently delightful. Read full review

Mark Jenkins

Will appeal most strongly to viewers who think Tom Hanks, who plays a thief and a potential murderer, can do no wrong. Read full review

Jack Mathews

You have to look at the earlier film to understand where the Coen brothers went wrong - terribly, noisily, annoyingly wrong. They've made a broad comedy out of a black comedy and completely lost its charm in the process. Read full review

William Arnold

Not only have they (Coen Brothers) stripped it of all its wit and charm, they've loaded it down with the kind of race-baiting and bathroom humor they've always avoided in the past. Read full review

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User Reviews

Spangle

Feb 3, 2016

I have no idea why The Ladykillers is so panned. Tom Hanks is phenomenal, as are J.K. Simmons, Tzi Ma, and honestly even Marlon Wayans. Featuring many Coen Brothers trademarks, The Ladykillers is a very fun watch that may be a little odd at times and showcases the directorial/writing duoI have no idea why The Ladykillers is so panned. Tom Hanks is phenomenal, as are J.K. Simmons, Tzi Ma, and honestly even Marlon Wayans. Featuring many Coen Brothers trademarks, The Ladykillers is a very fun watch that may be a little odd at times and showcases the directorial/writing duo almost trying to outdo themselves on the weirdness scale, but it has a fun engaging cast of characters, is well-written, and has a very compelling narrative. Even better, the lunacy of the film makes it truly hysterical and like I already said, a truly great time. While it does not reach the heights of some other Coen Brothers classics, I do prefer it to some of their more subtle films and though I would not call it their best work, I would hard pressed to call it their worst either. Overall, The Ladykillers is vintage Coen Brothers, even if it received less than stellar reviews.… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

Kadeemluvmusic

May 6, 2015

Ahh, The Coen Brothers, Joel and Ethan. The two dudes who masterfully made American cinema more peacefully nostalgic. The Big Lebowski and Barton Fink, and Miller's Crossing and Fargo. The Ladykillers...not so much. I know it's a terrible idea to remake a movie, but somehow I liked theAhh, The Coen Brothers, Joel and Ethan. The two dudes who masterfully made American cinema more peacefully nostalgic. The Big Lebowski and Barton Fink, and Miller's Crossing and Fargo. The Ladykillers...not so much. I know it's a terrible idea to remake a movie, but somehow I liked the movie. Although the story felt a little fishy, but the cast look great. I thought either Tom Hanks or Marlon Wayans were pretty funny, but Tom Hanks needs a better hard R-rated comedy rather than Joe Versus The Volcano. Not quite as bad as critics think, but still the Coens just made a mistake on choosing this forgotten but somewhat above average film that didn't qualify as a Coen Brothers king of arthouse masterpieces. Worth a rental or watch it on Netflix.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

MrMovieBuff

Feb 1, 2016

The Coen Brothers remake of the classic comedy 'The Ladykillers' is a not-so-bad comedy movie, but even a status like that is low for legendary directors such as Joel and Ethan Coen.

The movie is about Tom Hanks (in an inspired and charismatic performance) attempting to steal some money,The Coen Brothers remake of the classic comedy 'The Ladykillers' is a not-so-bad comedy movie, but even a status like that is low for legendary directors such as Joel and Ethan Coen.

The movie is about Tom Hanks (in an inspired and charismatic performance) attempting to steal some money, but doing it via a house of an old, religious and sometimes hot-tempered woman who offers some slapstick comedy to the film, but at times feels a little too silly for its own good.

There were times where I felt like laughing, and some of the jokes did work on some level, but ultimately, the story was just meh, it didn't add anything memorable and there were times where it tried to be surprising and catch you off guard...but it ended up just being predictable.

A disappointing step for the Coen brothers and Tom Hanks.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

TonyB.

Oct 19, 2005

Not one of Tom Hanks' best efforts, it does provide some pleasantries, not the least of which is the wonderful Irma P. Hall.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

DawdlingPoet

Nov 28, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The dialogue is somewhat hard to follow at times and I found the start of the movie a bit confusing, with there being alot of smooth talking explanation with a fairly heavy Southern accent, courtesy of the main character, Professer G.H. Dorr (played by Tom Hanks). Given that its a Cohen Bros movie it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that it has this mix of old and new and that it has quite alot of strong language and crude humour so bare that in mind, though it is fairly funny in parts, the crudeness would/will probably put peopleoff, knowing that one half of the Wayans bros.stars in the movie as one of the criminal motley crue, should tell you something and of course his character says the majority of the very coarse, strong language, though towards the end of the movie we end up getting the idea that he's perhaps not as tough as we might think.

Its quite interesting to see how the main character sweet talks his way out of what he'd call 'quite irregular' occurences, in one scene the old lady (Mrs. Munson) finds the professor hidden under her bed, hiding from a policeman. You'll have to watch the movie to see how he talks his way out of that one!

The movie had somewhat of a comic book feel to it, with the characters being quite quirky and varied too I think. I actually quite enjoyed the ending to this movie and I think the movie makes you think about the kind of people that you believe and trust.

I don't think that this movie is as bad as some people think or say it is really but im not sure I'd say its a particularly good movie either, it won't suit everyone and its a bit crass/daft in places, in a way that im not sure really works, so im giving this movie a 3 star rating as I think thats about fair. If your looking for a faithful remake of the original movie or otherwise quite a traditional kind of a movie then this isn't really for you but if you like quirky Cohen Bros comedies then its probably worth a watch. If not then its probably not for you, so judge for yourself whether this is for you or not... I don't think I would recommend it as such because there are funnier movies out there and I don't feel that it worked particularly well as a mix of a traditional and modern comedy, really, to be worth purchasing the DVD just to see but I wouldn't say its not worth a quick watch if it came on TV, it depends on if its your sort of thing of course...… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

NickTheCritick

Nov 2, 2021

This movie is notoriously a remake but it's definitely not at the level of the original one and, more in general, it's not a good movie. Anyway only those who dare may make mistakes sometimes and only the great ones dare. And Coen are great directors.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

amheretojudge

Aug 29, 2019

It is sad to see Tom Hanks do that and that and also that, everything in fact.

The Ladykillers Coen Brothers love comedy. They have easily made almost the same amount of comedy as they have printed dark gritty action drama. And here comes the sad confession. I have never understood theirIt is sad to see Tom Hanks do that and that and also that, everything in fact.

The Ladykillers

Coen Brothers love comedy. They have easily made almost the same amount of comedy as they have printed dark gritty action drama. And here comes the sad confession. I have never understood their joke. Ergo I could never respond to their comedy drama in their entire filmography. Adapted from William Rose's novel of the same name, the writer and director Joel and Ethan Coen are barely able to draw a nod from us. In fact, I am going to say that they never do. Not for a frame, not for a joke, not for an element and not for a character.

The film is a compilation of dull scenes stitched together and dressed for representing the cartoonish element in their behavior. Oh, the film is also flat emotionally. So there's that to mourn too. I don't even know where to start from. The structure of the script is textbook. In addition to that it is brimming with overstuffed and overstretched cliches. It breathes, nay.. it screams every bit of heist genre as there ever was or is.

Different characters from different ethnicities representing or holding onto a specific set of skills or more precisely filling up the necessary details of the plot. And then comes the plan. The planning of the plan, the execution of the plan and all the things that are obviously to go wrong in that flawed plan. Another disadvantage is empathy in characters. Each character has the tendency to bring humor on the table by praising himself or herself. Now there is nothing wrong with that. It's just that there isn't enough room for the other side of the argument to fill in on the joke, i.e. the characters are left one dimensional and hence impossible to connect with, not to forget the title of this team too, The Ladykillers.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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