NewMexiKen saw the latest Coen brothers film Ladykillers over the weekend. After a slow start it becomes a lot of fun, albeit not unlike a Road Runner cartoon becomes fun, but laugh-out-loud fun nonetheless. Tom Hanks is amusing, seemingly enjoying himself in a part the near opposite of Michael Sullivan in Road to Perdition. Irma P. Hall is delightful. And the Coens may do for gospel music what their O Brother, Where Art Thou? did for bluegrass.
The one large argument I have with this otherwise enjoyable—though hardly classic—movie is the profanity. NewMexiKen has a working knowledge of the four and 12-letter words. I’m not shocked by them. But what I don’t understand is what value they are thought to add when used in torrents. Even if that is the way some people talk, the movie is a cartoon. Realism isn’t the goal. Why let the f-word turn a good farcical comedy into an R-rated movie? It was uncomfortable and off-putting.
There was an OpEd in the WSJ a couple of days ago, remarking on the same thing. This is disappointing, because they did such a great job with language (in general) for O Brother, Where Art Thou? To say nothing of the original Ladykillers.