Doomsday's Andrei Tarkovsky Love Fest

Intolerable Cruelty was the worst Coen Brothers film I'd seen until I watched The Ladykillers a few hours later.

I have a feeling that I'm going to like The Ladykillers now.

I'm not sure whether that's the best or worst scene from that movie.

The Ladykillers (2004)

View count: First time



I'll admit it, I didn't hate this movie. In fact there were a few things about it that I rather enjoyed. It wasn't very good but it wasn't the disaster I was expecting. I was aware of its reputation before seeing it and coming off the heels of Intolerable Cruelty I was expecting a horror show, something that might shake me to my core and demonstrate to me that maybe the Coens aren't the comedic geniuses I previously took them for. Frankly I think this movie stands head and shoulders about Intolerable Cruelty which isn't saying much but at least The Ladykillers felt like it was doing something. That purpose however is nearly lost in its muddled style and delivery. It really plays like a movie that was shot on a first draft of the script and written by people who weren't sure what kind of movie they wanted to make. I suppose that's the best way to describe it; it's a movie very unsure of itself and it shows.

Tom Hanks gives one of his zaniest performances as Professor Dorr, a Classics professor (let's hear it for Classics majors like DDay!) who rents a room from Mrs. Munson, a church going old lady in the deep south. Unbeknownst to Mrs. Munson, Professor Dorr is planning a heist of a river boat casino and is frequently bringing in his gang of misfits who disguise themselves as a music band to tunnel into the vault. Once their caper is complete Mrs. Munson unfortunately discovers their fiendish plot and the Professor decides that they must rid themselves of Mrs. Munson once and for all. This added step to their perfect crime however doesn't quite go as planned and backfires again and again and again.

My first initial, surface level thought. In the history of cinema there are a handful occasions where a terrible performance almost single-handedly sinks a film. Sofia Coppola in Godfather III stands out. While I wouldn't compare The Ladykillers to any Godfather movie there is one standout performance that really torpedoes the whole thing. Marlon Wayans, why did they cast Marlon Wayans? Each actor brought something, some quirk or talent or funny element to the table. Wayans was none of that. Every scene he was in brought the movie to a standstill. Granted, his character is also the least developed, least interesting and most vulgar but he also just brought the bare minimum. Not that I have anything against vulgarity but it doesn't fit with what's going on.  It almost seems like the Coens thought that dropping an F-bomb was funny in and of itself.  On the other hand, the surprising standout was JK Simmons as Pancake, the explosives expert who screws up at every turn but chimes in optimistically with lines like 'piece of cake, this isn't a problem, easy fix.' Pancake is probably the funniest character in the movie and is a good contrast to the Professor and the silent, brooding General. Even Hanks as Professor Dorr, while annoying and almost uncomfortable at times, brings a sense of devilry for lack of better words that made me laugh on more than one occasion.

Where Ladykillers flounders is that it's very inconsistent. The story itself is good enough; thieves who take advantage of an old woman and try to kill her with disastrous results, but the Coens wallow in humor that's almost mean-spirited. As we've already established the Coen humor is typically situational and dialogue-driven and this one is the most screwball that they have made to date. It's hard for those aspects to work however when blended with the darker style of comedy that the Coens were also attempting to utilize, hence my referencing of the unnecessary and out of place vulgarity. I have nothing against it, heck The Big Lebowski is one of my all-time favs, but comedy isn't funny just because there are bad words in it. That's how 5th graders think and at many points this movie seems like it was made by a 5th grader. The Coens have employed this style successfully before but here it just fell completely flat. I suppose it's a noble effort at least compared to their previous film, it just doesn't work in its execution. It would have worked better if they chose one or the other, to either make a silly comedy or a hard-R comedy. In this case The Ladykillers didn't flow when having some of each. Although it's not the worst movie the Coens have made, I still give that to Intolerable Cruelty, it doesn't nearly live up to the potential of a movie filled with so much talent.

The Ladykillers, given everything I've heard about it, isn't a movie I really have any intention on ever seeing, honestly.

I did indeed hate Intolerable Cruelty, but not as much as A Serious Man, which I'd consider their worst that I've seen.  But I know I'm in the minority on that.

Yeah, I couldn't stand it when I saw it.

I'm not sure I get the hate for A Serious Man. What exactly is so bad about it?

Oh, all right. Cool. Hopefully others who felt the same way will re-watch it and find something new too.

Since we're almost two-thirds of the way done with 2016 I would like to add an addendum or two to my original list of anticipated 2016 movies.  First, the ones I've seen.

Jason Bourne: B-
Captain America: Civil War: B+
Hail, Caesar!: B
The BFG: C+
X-Men: Apocalypse: B
Hacksaw Ridge: C

Now a few that I would add to my original list of anticipated films.