Thursday, January 10, 2008

The Ladykillers (2004) - Gilbert Pearlman

July 2, 1991

THE LADY KILLERS

Screenplay by Gilbert Pearlman

Synopsis by Brian Aldrich

MRS. TRUESDALE is a lonely, near-senile old woman who lives in a large antiquated Victorian house in a decaying neighborhood of L.A. She has advertised for some boarders. JIMMY "MAESTRO" MAX, a tweedy professor type, comes to rent a room. He also pays for his three friends who will be renting rooms as well. He explains that they are a musical quartet who will be rehearsing together to perform for a children's charity. ALEX CRENSHAW, a former stockbroker, LUCKY ALLISON, a clumsy, but muscular black man, and MARTY PALERMO, a grim slimeball, move in. The quartet closets themselves away in Max's living room to rehearse, but when the door is closed, they put on a CD to fool Mrs. Truesdale and review their plans to rob an armored car.

Mrs. Truesdale is a constant interruption. First, a senior citizen help group comes to paint the house. Then, her friends come to play cards and include the boarders. Then, a social worker, MARSHA SLADE, comes to check on Mrs. Truesdale. Max tricks her into staying away. The boys finally pull their heist. They even get Mrs. Truesdale to pick up a trunk from the airport which, unbeknownst to her, contains the loot. When the boys have packed up the loot and are ready to move out of her house, they have an accident and Mrs. Truesdale figures out what is going on. She demands to call the police. They decide to kill her. But they are inept and wind up killing each other. Mrs. Truesdale tries to tell her policeman friend what has occurred, but he thinks that she's senile and tells her to keep it to herself and keep the money. She does.

Summary Criticism: An intelligent and well-crafted remake, there are moments when the material is dated, but overall the story is humorous and delightful.

The Ladykillers (2004) - imdb

The Ladykillers (2004) - wiki

No comments: