Grade:  B

Director:  Ethan Coen, Joel Coen		Released:  March 2004
Writer:  Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, William Rose		MPAA Rating:  R
Players:  Tom Hanks, Marlon Wayans, Irma P. Hall, Stephen Root		Running time:  104 minutes

Ratings System

I was concerned going into this movie that Tom Hanks's character would be annoying and self-serving.  Delightfully, the opposite was true.  His character served the story, he was funny, well-written, and well-acted.  All of which is a good thing considering Hanks carries much of the film.  He's created a very memorable character: a slick-talking, dignified yet criminal, gentleman.

The other major characters in The Ladykillers are equally memorable.  However, at times they go a little over the top.  For example, Lump is a little too dumb and Gawain is a little too "street".  But it's forgivable because it's pretty funny.  I wish Stephen Root had played a larger part, I love that guy.

As with O Brother, Where Art Thou the Coens use a genre of music to help tell the story, for The Ladykillers they chose gospel music.  The music is toe-tappingly entertaining (while the James Brown-like choir director steals those scenes), but feels a little like filler.

Nobody can get away with mixing grisly death and murder with comedy the way the Coen brothers can.  Like the infamous leg in the woodchipper scene from Fargo, they have a knack for making the grotesque funny.  The final fifteen minutes of the film create a hilarious domino effect of death and comedy.

- crocoPuffs