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Looking all the world like a southern gentleman’s version of Bugs Bunny crossed with Colonel Saunders, Tom Hanks essays the star role in the American remake of “The Ladykillers”. Hanks with prominent buckteeth, plays Professor Goldthwait Higgins Dorr, Ph.D. When widow Marva Munson (Irma Hall) decides to rent out a room of her home, Dorr arrives with bells on immediately ready to move into. Provided she has a basement that he and his “band” (Marlon Wayans, J.K. Simmons from “Spiderman”, Ryan Hurst and Tzi Ma) can practice their inspirational religious tunes in. In reality, Dorr is a crafty criminal who hopes to tunnel through to a near by casino and break into their vault. ***

Slapstick humor abounds in “The Ladykiller” which gives it much more in common with other comedies they’ve made like “Raising Arizona” and “O Brother Where Art Thou?” than the dry humor at the heart of “Fargo”. “The Ladykillers” manages that rare feat of entertaining the audience, the Coens and critics all at the same time. While it isn’t a perfect comedy, it’s very funny and, not surprisingly, very quirky and well worth renting for casual fans and buying for hardcore fans. The Coen brothers continue their quest to become the next Preston Sturges with this marvelous remake. ---

An area where many of the Coen’s movies could improve, we get a special featurette on Danny Ferrington who is really the man behind Dorr’s band. There are also a number of cut music scenes featuring some terrific gospel numbers. The slap reel outtakes consisting almost entirely of one scene (where Hanks gets the stuffing knocked out of him by Hall) is a chuckle as well. Unfortunately, we don’t get any other extras with the Coens discussing why they chose to remake “The Ladykillers”.