A leaden, tone-deaf remake of the 1955 Ealing comedy starring Alec Guinness, the Coen brothers' painfully unfunny rehash hinges on the duel of wits between five larcenous oddballs and one sweet but strong-willed old lady. Mrs. Marva Munson (Irma P. Hall), a right-thinking, widowed church lady, rents a room in her sprawling house on a quiet block near the Mississippi to one Professor Goldthwait Higginson Dorr, Ph.D. (Tom Hanks). Dorr, who's never met a bit of flowery verse or a convoluted circumlocution he didn't love, claims to be on sabbatical, writing a book and enjoying the opportunity to make Renaissance music with four like-minded friends. Mrs. Munson's interest...
Released:
2004
Rated:
R
Length:
104 mins