I love the Cohen Brothers. Joel and Ethan make some of the most
original movies in Hollywood. Sure, almost every plot has some sort of heist
gone wrong, and Tom Hanks turn as a ringleader in the Ladykillers is no
different.
Our story begins with Southern Gentleman and College professor
Goldthwait Higginson Dorr, Ph.D (Tom Hanks). He shows up one day at little old
Marva Munson's (Irma P. Hall) house answering an ad for a room.
Instantly audiences are treated to one of Hank's best characters in recent
memory. Hanks pours on the intellect and charm as he convinces Mrs. Munson
that he and his friends form a gospel band and need to use her root
cellar to practice their heavenly tunes.
Mrs. Munson, being a good christian lady who dispises that old
hippity-hop, is instantly charmed by this proposition and takes the boys in.
What really transpires down there, though, is no music session but
instead tunneling towards the vault of a casino boat that holds instant
fortune for these boys.
The Cohen brothers weave a tale of deceit that ultimately shows who
really can outwit who. Their casting of Hanks is brilliant but even better
is his supporting cast that includes members for specific jobs. Gawain
MacSam (Marlon Wayans) offers up the trash-talking, hippity-hop
nonsense that Marva hates but is hillarious to audiences. His foul mouth isnt'
his reason for being here as he is the janitor at the casino the group
plans to rob.
Garth Pancake, played wonderfully by J.K. Simmons of Oz and Spiderman
fame, gives us a bizarre explosives expert who suffers from intestinal
explosions of his own. He's there to blow the tunnel up along with the
General (Tzi Ma), a former tunnel soldier in Vietnam. Don't expect much
dialogue from the General but when he does talk, the timing is
impeccable. Finally there's Lump (Ryan Hurst), the dumb muscle who can't even
play football right despite his size. These guys form a team that
shouldn't really be able to get away with robbing the casino but in the end
do they?
The Disc:
The Ladykillers comes to DVD in a formidable 1.85:1 anamorphic
widescreen transfer that is on par with anything else that Disney has released
this year. Plenty of color fade in this movie gives it a sweet southern
accent. Equally impressive is its 5.1 channel track that accents the
few moments of surround goodness. As with the Cohen's O'Brother movie,
The Ladykillers offers up plenty of awesome tunes that sound glorious
with this dvd's soundtrack.
Extras on the disc are somewhat slim but begin with Danny
Ferrington: The Man Behind the Band which gives viewers a musician's take on
the film. I don't really get this feature but it was fairly
entertaining anyways.
Next up is The Slap Reel Outtakes which features plenty of
slapping from Mrs Munson as she takes out the naughty on the boys. As with
most gag reels there's some funny stuff along with some not so funny
stuff.
Next we have The Gospel of The Ladykillers which offers up two
deleted musical numbers from the film. Not bad stuff, I think they
should have left it in actually. Finally there's the usual coming
attractions and a trailer.
bottom line:
Not the best Cohen Brother's movie out there, but still a fine movie
with some excellent acting from Tom Hanks. Irma P. Hall also shines with
a tale of who can really outwit who.
3.5 out of 5
By - Brian Gray
1/2
