3. The Coen Brothers - The Ladykillers
I happen to really like the original Ladykillers. Its great actors in a very British romp that acts as a perfect entry into the world Ealing comedies. And brilliantly, it is simple; the plot can be summed up in a sentence and the humour is timeless. It's these qualities that probably appealed to the Coens back in the early naughties when they decided to remake the classic. But out of all the facets I listed about that made the original work so well only one was conserved (the cast
is pretty good). The plot became incredibly convoluted, with too much backstory levelled on the supporting cast and an overall more contrived nature. And of course it wasn't funny. The Coen Brothers have always had a black humour running through their films, but in The Ladykillers it felt a tad too commercial for them. Theyd had misses in the past (The Hudsucker Proxy was always one that raised an eyebrow from me), but this was the first time they felt un-Coen-y.
Did they pull it back? The next film Joel and Ethan turned their eyes to was an adaptation of Cormac McCarthys No Country For Old Men. I dont think they let this phase them.