The Ladykillers
Movie, 2004, The 2000s, Set in A casino heist
The Ladykillers is #11 of 21 in release order and #11 of 21 in chronological order in the The Coen Brothers.
The story
An eccentric, if not charming Southern professor and his crew pose as a band in order to rob a casino, all under the nose of his unsuspecting landlord – a sharp old woman.
The Ladykillers recap
The Ladykillers (2004) follows a fake professor and his crew of misfits who rent a widow's cellar to tunnel into a riverboat casino vault. "Professor" Goldthwaite Higginson Dorr (Tom Hanks) asks Marva Munson (Irma P. Hall) to let his early music ensemble practise in her Mississippi root cellar. The band is really a heist team: demolitions man Garth Pancake (J. K. Simmons), casino janitor Gawain McSam (Marlon Wayans), the tunnelling General (Tzi Ma) and the dim football player Lump (Ryan Hurst). They dig at night and dump the dirt on a passing garbage barge. Gawain loses his job, Garth blows off his own finger, and Mrs. Munson keeps interrupting. They still reach the vault and take the money. The Coens remade the 1955 Ealing comedy of the same name, sharing directing credit for the first time. Their eleventh feature, it follows Intolerable Cruelty.
The Ladykillers ending explained
The Ladykillers ends with the whole gang dead on the garbage barge and Mrs. Munson keeping the money. She discovers the theft and demands they return it and come to church, so they decide to kill her. Gawain cannot do it and is shot in a fight with Garth, the General strangles Garth, then chokes on his own cigarette and falls down the stairs. Lump shoots himself by accident, and a falling piece of stone knocks Dorr off the bridge. The police tell Mrs. Munson to keep the cash, and she gives it to Bob Jones University.
Post-credits scenes
No. The Ladykillers has no mid- or post-credits scene.
Where to watch The Ladykillers
The Ladykillers isn't on a US streaming service right now. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 6.2/10, Rotten Tomatoes 54%
Where it fits
- Release order: after Intolerable Cruelty, before No Country for Old Men.
- Chronological order: after Intolerable Cruelty, before No Country for Old Men.
Cast
- Tom Hanks as Professor G.H. Dorr
- Irma P. Hall as Marva Munson
- Marlon Wayans as Gawain MacSam
- J.K. Simmons as Garth Pancake
- Tzi Ma as The General
- Ryan Hurst as Lump Hudson
- Diane Delano as Mountain Girl
- George Wallace as Sherriff Wyner
- John McConnell as Deputy Sheriff
- Jason Weaver as Weemack Funthes
- Stephen Root as Fernand Gudge
- Baadja-Lyne Odums as Rosalie Funthes
Directed by Ethan Coen, Joel Coen.