The Ladykillers

The Ladykillers starts out quite promisingly, but the Coens gradually run out of steam. The jokes aren’t as effective as they would have liked, and since practically all of the key twists, including the final one, are based on them, the film jumps around on one foot until the closing credits. Only Tom Hanks and the old lady, who was excellent, deserve extra praise. (16/07/2004)

An excellent comedy from the masters’ workshop. A small, cute statuette that will amuse, please and caress the soul. It is not worth building this statue next to large statues such as The Big Lebowski or Fargo. The Coen brothers simply experimented with a lighter genre and created a simple comedy full of great caricatures. You say that caricatures have no insides? Well, their magic is on the surface. In Professor Dorr's perfectly trimmed beard, Mrs. Munson's cheerful face, in the general's icy calm mask... Such are the true poetics of this film. Black as morning coffee, jolly as a gospel choir, linguistically perfectly tuned, and full of excellent caricatures. It is not worth looking for depth in the film, because it is a brisk gag, a funny situation and, as always, ironic directing by Joel and Ethan... What more could you want than pure entertainment with the hallmark of independent cinematography and the glory of a Hollywood star? What more could you want than wonderful actors led by the excellent Hanks and the natural Irma P. Hall? I was divinely entertained and I even forgot that the Coen brothers have made better movies. (16/07/2004)

Coen brothers let Hanks and Co. scream, run around, act weird, and perform various antics for so long that the viewer doesn't care anymore whether their plan succeeds in the end. Moreover, the ending is so desperately predictable that not even several malicious screenwriting ideas can help it. Placing this particular film between Intolerable Cruelty and No Country for Old Men in their biography is literally a sin. (09/07/2005)

I like Coen brothers, they are among my favorite directors, but this somehow didn't work for them and the result was, from my perspective, the weakest film in their filmography. Clearly weaker than the original version. Their characters this time are just superficial figures and not even Tom Hanks in the main role will save it. The biggest weakness is generally the screenplay, the quality of the dialogues is unsatisfactory and the comedy simply lacks humor. Overall impression: 45%. (16/06/2006)

I wasn't really impressed by this movie and it doesn't measure up to its source material, even though it tries to appear more modern. Tom Hanks is surprisingly good in his role, as well as the supporting characters, and the Coen brothers gave it an interesting style, but I still don't think it works as a comedy fundamentally well. I didn't find it entertaining and the absurd ending didn't thrill me, and I actually enjoy absurd dramas. (31/03/2015)