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The Ladykillers
Directed by the Coen Brothers: Ethan and Joel. Story: Criminals and a daft old bat with unfeasibly large baps. Running Time: 104 minutes.
Certificate 15 The Coen brothers have an unsurpassed talent for making the usual appear surreal. The story of The Ladykillers involves a bunch of criminals trying to steal from a casino by tunnelling from a battle-axe's basement. The battle-axe has no idea and thinks they are a troupe of musicians. Sounds rubbish, doesn't it? Ah yes, but this is the Coen brothers. Fargo sounded a bit naff on paper, that's why no-one went to see it.
I enjoyed this film: Testosterone Satisfaction Rating: I think the average moviegoer will enjoy it: , but only because the average moviegoer has the mental age of a yoghurt. And less culture. I don't mean you, obviously. To enjoy this film you should be: Eccentric.
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They're pretty good at casting too - I can't remember seeing any of the main players
in anything before (except Tom Hanks and that Wayans gimp), but looking them up,
they've been in *loads* of stuff. It's just that this time they're memorable,
significant and in the *right roles*. Irma P Hall plays the perfect dozy-arse
battle-axe and J K Simmons works his IBS-inflicted "easiest thing in the world"
explosives expert nicely. I can't help thinking Tom Hanks is only there to add a
name to the proceedings, but nevertheless he's very watchable. The only incongruity is
Marlon Wayans, who seems plucked straight from Scary Movie, but fortunately he
doesn't mess things up too much.
All that is just ingredients though, and as irrelevant as the choice of beer
in a steak & ale pie. It's not the type of ale that matters, it's the way that the
ale combines with the steak, the pastry, the gravy and anything else that might go into
such an earthily mysterious dish. So it is with the Ladykillers - I can't explain quite
why it works any more than I can say why one steak & ale pie is better than another.
It just is, it just works, and I take my hat off to the creators who do know
what to do to make it work. I wouldn't call The Ladykillers the Coen brothers' best film - that
accolade I would give to O Brother, Where Art Thou? - but nevertheless it's a treat
to watch, due entirely to the creative instincts involved in its production.
It's a beautifully formed steak & ale pie.
