Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageThe Ladykillers (2004)
Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Relocating Mackendrick's black comedy to the Mississippi Delta is just one of several dramatic changes made to the Ealing classic. The dialogue is almost entirely new, and it pours out maybe too freely, as it's sometimes hard to keep up with the ornate lingo and wham-bam gags. The characters, while distantly echoing the original little old lady and the posse of disguised thieves who rehearse music in her boarding house, are drastically redrawn (probably the funniest new inventions being Pancake and his beloved Mountain Girl). And the tone is not so much bone-dry, as broad and somewhat scatologically moist. Hanks isn't a patch on Guinness, and sometimes it all falls a little flat. But at other times it's very funny indeed, and while being far from the Coens' finest hour, it remains more intelligent and ambitious than most of what currently passes for Hollywood mainstream comedy. And the cat is great.Author: GA
Cast & crew
Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Producer: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Tom Jacobson, Barry Sonnenfeld, Barry Josephson
Cast: Tom Hanks, Irma P Hall, Marlon Wayans, JK Simmons, Tzi Ma, Ryan Hurst, Diane Delano, George Wallace, John McConnell, Jason Weaver, Stephen Root, Baadja-Lyne Odums, Walter Jordan, George Anthony Bell, Greg Grunberg, Hallie Singleton, Robert Baker, Blake Clark full cast
Genre(s): Comedy
Rated: 15
Duration: 104 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
London Children's Film Festival
Read our exclusive reviews of films playing at the 2009 London Children’s Film Festival
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'
Masters of contrary comedy, Joel and Ethan Coen have struck gold again with their latest, ‘A Serious Man’
Michael Haneke discusses 'The White Ribbon'
Dave Calhoun met with Michael Haneke in Munich to mull over the details of his Palme d'Or winner, 'The White Ribbon'
Ten inspirations behind 'Avatar'?
Time Out ponders the influences behind James Cameron's anticipated space-opera on the basis of the trailer
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now