Here we are, then - a new Coen Brother movie. That's always a cause for celebration - and this time they did it astoundingly quickly. I just saw Ladykillers, and frankly I'm slightly taken back by the bad reviews it got. Now, the way I see it, the film falls in a Grey area - it's far too commercial and mainstream for the Coens' fans, and too much of an oddball movie for those looking for a mainstream comedy. Certainly, this isn't the Coens at their best - there's no use comparing Ladykillers to masterpieces like Barton Fink, Big Lebowski, Fargo, Miller's Crossing, Hudsucker Proxy and O Brother, Where Art Thou? or even to lesser Coen projects like The Man Who Wasn't There, Intolerable Cruelty and Raising Arizona. In hindsight, Ladykillers probably is the duo's weakest offering to date. But even when the Coens are at their very worst, they're still the best around. Even when dealing with a weak storyline and one-dimensional characters - and for the first time in their career, the story isn't one of their own - their brilliant, one-of-a-kind scriptwriting and directing make up for it. Nobody writes - or directs - a dialogue like Joel and Ethan. And even though they weren't able to arouse sympathy for any of the characters - not even the charming old woman - they still created some unique, memorable, hilarious characters in the best Coen tradition. Tzi Ma (The Quiet American), Marlon Wayans (Requiem For A Dream), Ryan Hurst (Remember The Titans) and J. K. Simmons (Spider-Man) are each uniquely terrific as the band of robbers, and Irma P. Hall is wonderful and hilarious as a classic god-fearing Big Mama. The show-stopper is Mr. Tom Hanks who, as Professor G. H. Dorr, grants one of his most memorable performances. Tom Hanks' characters usually have a Tom Hanks attitude about them; for this role his disconnected from that, and truly I haven't enjoyed him this much since Forrest Gump. The Coens also do as gorgeous a job with recurring motives as they usually do - in this case, a cat, a hideous statue, and a portrait that seems to change a bit whenever you look at it. The surreal, oddball atmosphere of a Coen Brothers classic is still there - more so, I would say, than in Intolerable Cruelty and even The Man Who Wasn't There. The feeling and the style are there; unfortunately, as I mentioned earlier, the film suffers from a weak plot, which only become hilariously funny in the last half hour.
So you're more than welcome to follow the dozens of one and two star reviews on this page, if you like; I still think Ladykillers is well worth watching for Coen fans - AS LONG AS YOU REMAIN OBJECTIVE AND IGNORE THE COEN NAME ON IT! (Yeah, that's a tricky one, I know.) If you like the Coens' oddball humor and surrealism, just keep that 'oh, whatever happened to them?' thought out of your head and enjoy the movie. And I'm quite sure you'll enjoy it.
So you're more than welcome to follow the dozens of one and two star reviews on this page, if you like; I still think Ladykillers is well worth watching for Coen fans - AS LONG AS YOU REMAIN OBJECTIVE AND IGNORE THE COEN NAME ON IT! (Yeah, that's a tricky one, I know.) If you like the Coens' oddball humor and surrealism, just keep that 'oh, whatever happened to them?' thought out of your head and enjoy the movie. And I'm quite sure you'll enjoy it.