5 Performances That Sucked...
5. The Ladykillers - Professor Goldthwaite Higginson Dorr
It was just a matter of time that the most powerful leading man in Hollywood would eventually team up with the equally powerful directors; The Coen Brothers, but alas, the result was the tepid caper comedy The Ladykillers. A remake of the much superior Ealing Studios classic, Hanks plays Professor GH Dorr, a smarmy yet charming Southern gentleman who cons his way into renting a room from a widow (Irma Hall), while scheming a casino robbery in her basement with his gang of inept miscreants. After some very duty acting roles, Hanks seems much more relaxed here, having fun in this film with his outlandish portrayal, not only playing for laughs but also working with the Coens, but he seems to be trying too hard in this film. Hanks knows comedy and has great timing to pull off solid laughs in most of his films, but his performance seems too forced. It's as if Hanks wants us to like this man by making him endearing, when he is actually self indulged, pretentious and dangerous, ultimately making the audience not really care if he pulls off the caper or not. Unlike the majority of his work, Hanks cannot carry this film with his characterization, and this bogs the film down heavily. Overall, this is one of the Coen's few misses (and I stress the word few), and sadly Hanks is given a one dimensional compass for a very complex possibly entertaining character.