Joel and Ethan Coen (mis) directed The Ladykillers, a misconceived black comedy crime thriller, starring a (miscast Tom Hanks.
Grade: C+
The Coens’ screenplay was based on the 1955 British Ealing comedy, written by William Rose, which was far superior.
The Coens were originally commissioned to write the screenplay only. When Sonnenfeld backed out, the Coens were hired as directors, with Sonnenfeld retaining a producer credit.
It stars Tom Hanks, Irma P. Hall, Marlon Wayans, J. K. Simmons, Tzi Ma and Ryan Hurst, and marks the first time that the Coens have worked with Tom Hanks and the first remake by the Coens.
This was the first film in which Joel and Ethan Coen share both producing and directing credits; previously Joel had been credited as director and Ethan as producer.
The Ladykillers received mixed reviews and grossed $76 million worldwide. Many critics consider it one of the Coen brothers’ weaker efforts, negatively comparing it to the British classic.
Mrs. Marva Munson, a strict, religious and elderly widow, meets “Professor” Goldthwaite Higginson Dorr, a classics professor who expresses interest in the room she has for rent and asks to use her root cellar for rehearsals of an early music ensemble he directs, to which she agrees. The fellow musicians in the pretend ensemble are actually a gang of criminals. The band is composed of a dim football player named Lump as the “muscle”, the overconfident movie effects technician Garth Pancake as the “jack of all trades” (who suffers from IBS), the crass and sloppy Gawain McSam as their “inside man”, and the Vietnamese, tough-as-nails General as their “tunneling expert” (who hides his chain smoking from the disapproving Mrs. Munson by concealing his cigarette in his mouth). The group of criminals plan to dig a tunnel through the exposed wall in the cellar in order to break into the underground vault for a nearby riverboat casino. The dirt they remove is taken out at night and tossed off a bridge onto a garbage barge as it passes below.
A series of mishaps threaten to derail their plan, including “inside man” Gawain losing his janitorial job at the casino, Mrs. Munson’s cat Pickles running off with Garth’s finger when he accidentally sets a plastic explosive off in his hand, and a visit from the local sheriff. Nonetheless, the group manages to break through the wall of the vault and snatch the loot. Before the group can get away, Mrs. Munson uncovers the plot and tells Dorr to return the money and go with her to church on Sunday, or face the authorities. Dorr attempts to persuade her otherwise, by claiming that the casino’s insurance company will replace the money, resulting in each shareholder losing only a single penny. He also claims he will donate a full share of the stolen funds to Bob Jones University, a Bible college which Mrs. Munson admires, but she insists on her judgment.
The gang decides they have no choice but to murder her. None of them are eager to kill an old woman so they draw straws. The task falls to Gawain but he fails to go through with it after he realizes Mrs. Munson reminds him of his mother. This starts a fight between Garth and Gawain which results in Gawain being fatally shot with his own gun; the group dumps his body off the bridge onto the trash barge. Garth then attempts to steal the entire sum of money and escape with his girlfriend, “Mountain Girl,” but the General kills them both with a garotte wire and discards their bodies onto the barge. After drawing lots again, the General is about to kill Mrs. Munson in her sleep, concealing his cigarette in his mouth as per usual. He is suddenly startled by a cuckoo clock, accidentally swallowing his cigarette. In a frenzied search for water, The General trips over Mrs. Munson’s cat and falls down the stairs to his death. As Lump and Dorr dispose of The General’s body onto the barge, Lump has a change of heart and tells Dorr he wants to do what Mrs. Munson says. When Dorr refuses, Lump attempts to shoot him with a revolver but the chamber is empty; he peers down the barrel and accidentally shoots himself with the round that was in the next chamber, falling off the bridge onto the barge. Dorr, now alone, pauses to admire a passing raven and recite poetry until the raven dislodges the head of a crumbling gargoyle on top of the bridge. The head falls, knocking Dorr over the railing, and his cape gets caught on the ironwork and breaks his neck, killing him instantly. As the barge passes under the bridge, the fabric tears and he too falls onto it.
Finding the stolen money in her basement, Mrs. Munson believes that the criminals have left it behind. She informs the police about the money, but they think she is insane and tell her to keep it; she decides to donate it to Bob Jones University.
The Ladykillers ends by showing Pickles dropping Garth’s severed finger onto the barge.
Inspired by:
The gag of the portrait changing expressions is taken from Preston Sturges’ Sullivan’s Travels (1941). In that film, Sullivan (Joel McCrea) escapes the advances of a sexually aggressive widow (Almira Sessions) by making a rope out of his bed sheet. The portrait of the late husband is duly shocked. In the original The Ladykillers, a photo of the late captain “at the salute” is seen.
Two of the Coens’ previous films, Intolerable Cruelty and O Brother, Where Art Thou? were also influenced by Sturges
Deviations from 1955 Version:
In the sequence where the gang begins to dump the corpses into the river, a garbage barge catches each fallen robber as he falls from the bridge, replacing the goods train in the 1955 British film.
The film was primarily shot in Natchez, Mississippi, USA and Colonial Street, one of the backlot street sets at the Universal Studios.
The Ladykillers received mixed to negative reviews, with Hanks’ performance in the lead described as uninspired.
Worse yet, audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade C on scale of A to F.
Cast
Tom Hanks as Goldthwaite Higginson Dorr, Ph.D., the mastermind of the casino heist
Irma P. Hall as Marva Munson, a well-meaning, God-fearing elderly widow
Marlon Wayans as Gawain MacSam, the foul-mouthed, hotheaded janitor of the Bandit Queen Casino
J. K. Simmons as Garth Pancake, garrulous demolitions expert who suffers from IBS
Tzi Ma as “The General”, the often-silent owner of the Hi-Ho Donut store in the town
Ryan Hurst as Lump Hudson, the brawn of the group and former football player
Diane Delano as Mountain Girl, Pancake’s female partner and right hand gal.
George Wallace as Sheriff Wyner, the lazy sheriff of Saucier.
Stephen Root as Mr. Gudge, the intolerant but weak-willed manager of the Bandit Queen Casino.
Jason Weaver as Weemack Funthes, janitor of the Bandit Queen Casino.
Greg Grunberg as TV commercial director
Blake Clark as Football Coach
Aldis Hodge as Doughnut Gangster
Jeremy Suarez as Li’l Gawain
