Taglines: The greatest criminal minds of all time have finally met their match.
Academy Award-winner Tom Hanks teams up for the first time with Academy Award-winning filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen (“O Brother, Where Art Thou?”) for this retelling of the critically acclaimed 1955 comedy, “The Ladykillers.” Hanks stars as Goldthwait Higginson Dorr III, Ph.D., a charlatan professor who’s assembled a gang of “experts” for the heist of the century.
The thieves: experts in explosions, tunneling, and muscle, and the critical “inside man.” The base of operations: the root cellar of an unsuspecting, church-going little old lady named Mrs. Munson (Hall).
The ruse: the five need a place to practice their church music.
The problem: it quickly becomes evident that Dorr’s thieves lack the mental capacity to do the job.
The bigger problem: they have all seriously underestimated their upstairs host. When Mrs. Munson stumbles onto their plot and threatens to notify the authorities, the felonious five decide to do her in. After all, how hard can it be to knock off one old lady?
Academy Award winner Tom Hanks returns to his comedic roots and teams up for the first time with Academy Award-winning filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen (“Fargo,” “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”) for his first laugh-out-loud comedy in more than a decade, Touchstone Pictures’ retelling of the critically acclaimed 1955 comedy, “The Ladykillers.”
Hanks stars as Goldthwait Higginson Dorr, Ph.D., a charlatan professor who’s assembled a gang of so-called “experts” for the heist of the century. The thieves: experts in explosions, tunneling, and muscle, and the critical “inside man.” The base of operations: the root cellar of an unsuspecting, church-going little old lady named Mrs. Munson (Irma P. Hall).
The ruse: the five need a place to practice their church music.
The problem: it quickly becomes evident that Dorr’s thieves lack the mental capacity to do the job. The bigger problem: they have all seriously underestimated their upstairs host. When Mrs. Munson stumbles onto their plot and threatens to notify the authorities, the felonious five decide to do her in. After all, how hard can it be to knock off one old lady?
The Ladykillers is a 2004 American black comedy thriller film directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. The Coens’ screenplay was based on the 1955 British Ealing comedy film of the same name, written by William Rose. The Coens produced the remake (their first), together with Tom Jacobson, Barry Sonnenfeld and Barry Josephson. 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. This was the first film in which Joel and Ethan Coen share both producing and directing credits; previously Joel had always been credited as director and Ethan as producer.
The Ladykillers (2004)
Directed by: Joel Coen
Starring: Tom Hanks, Irma P. Hall, Marlon Wayans, George Wallace, Ryan Hurst, Jason Weaver, Diane Delano, John McConnell, Lyne Odums, Walter K. Jordan, Greg Grunberg
Screenplay by: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Production Design by: Dennis Gassner
Cinematography by: Roger Deakins
Film Editing by: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Costume Design by: Mary Zophres
Set Decoration by: Nancy Haigh
Art Direction by: Richard L. Johnson
Music by: Carter Burwell
MPAA Rating: R for language including sexual references.
Distributed by: Touchstone Pictures
Release Date: March 26, 2004
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