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The Coen Brothers have made a habit of telling stories about idiotic criminals who learn the wages of sin. The Ladykillers is no exception. It stands out only because a) it is a remake of a 1955 comedy caper, and b) the Coens have stooped to more sophomoric and crass humor than ever before.

Thus, mainstream critics are giving The Ladykillers a cooler reception than they gave last year's Intolerable Cruelty. Many wonder what happened to the heart and the art that distinguished Fargo, Miller's Crossing, Barton Fink, and the goofy O Brother, Where Art Thou? Even though The Ladykillers features a funny performance by Tom Hanks and a soundtrack of boisterous gospel music, the lows apparently outweigh the highs.

The Ladykillers concerns a self-declared criminal mastermind known as Professor Dorr (played by Alec Guinness in the original, Hanks here) who pulls together a highly inept team of cons to rob a steamboat casino. They make their move by tunneling from an old woman's basement into the casino's cash stash. But then they hit a snag: The old woman is a cantankerous Baptist churchgoer who will not tolerate wrongdoing in her house.

The Coens can probably continue to turn out stylish capers like this for decades. But the sophisticated stride that made their first run of films so remarkable has here degenerated into a sophomoric stumble. There was a time when these quirky filmmakers took their characters half-seriously. We came away doing more than just quoting them. We cared about them.

While The Ladykillers' foul language is certainly excessive, the film has three distinct virtues that may make it worthwhile for those who can shield themselves from the annoying dialogue: Irma P. Hall's winning performance as the devout (if naïve) Christian widow, Roger Deakins' gorgeous cinematography, and the rousing gospel-music soundtrack.

My full review is at Christianity Today Movies.

Michael Elliott (Movie Parables) highlights the film's moral lessons: "Crime does not pay; actions do have consequences; there is no honor among thieves … But perhaps the most obvious lesson for us can be summed up by a quote that is borrowed from a previous Tom Hanks film … 'Stupid is as stupid does.'"

Chris Monroe (Christian Spotlight) says it "revels in immoral dealings but nevertheless rounds out with evil-doing being brought to justice." He calls the movie "well-crafted," but objects to the "excessive foul language."

"I can't remember laughing this much at a film," says Phil Boatwright (Movie Reporter). "In my opinion, it is the funniest dark comedy since Dr. Strangelove. There is, unfortunately, a fly in the mint julep. Along with the positives … this remake has sadly taken on a modern-day nastiness by incorporating excessive coarse and irreverent language. What a shame."

Steve Lansingh (The Film Forum) warns moviegoers that the film has little in common with the popular O Brother Where Art Thou? "The Ladykillers is much more akin to the Coens' Fargo, both disturbingly gruesome tales of bad guys getting their due. The violence is in typical Coen Brothers style—halfway between funny and sickening, which some people don't seem to mind, but I find difficult to appreciate."

Steven Isaac (Plugged In) says the foul language is damaging. "I'm left feeling that what I heard while I watched this otherwise masterful movie utterly destroyed its credibility, tore up every layer of its delicate nuance and scribbled haphazardly all over its colorful characterizations."

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April (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48