15 Terrible Movies That Actually Improve Good Ones
8. The Ladykillers Improves No Country For Old Men
The Bad
The Coen brothers are known for dark, often hilarious films like The Big Lewbowski, Fargo and The Ladykillers. What's that? You forgot they remade The Ladykillers? Yeah, so did most people.
The unnecessary remake of the Alec Guinness classic features a solid cast but never matches the sum of its parts. For a supposed comedy it is hilariously unfunny and though Tom Hanks received some critical praise for his performance, everyone involved seems to be trying far too hard. A rare and disappointing misfire for the Coen brothers then.
How It Improves No Country For Old Men
Thankfully, the cinema Gods themselves witnessed this and felt the need to reach down and put things right again with the Coen's next film No Country For Old Men.
A modern western featuring a great cast and a particularly disturbing turn from Javier Bardem, No Country For Old Men was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won four including best picture.
Gone are the irritating caricatures, replaced by multi-faceted characters much more in tune to the likes of Fargo and thereby a damn sight more interesting to watch on screen. Bardem's villain Anton Chigurh in particular is so outstanding it makes one wonder if The Ladykillers was in fact made by the Farrelly brothers and wrongly billed to the Coens.