A largely-overlooked, forgotten later entry in the Coen brothers' catalog, though that might just be for a reason. At a glance, it's got all the hallmarks; a strong, curiously mixed cast; one wacky, dark-hinged plot; heaping portions of personality and charisma; tons of ambling, how-did-that-work dialog. But despite the familiar recipe, it never really comes together.

There's a decided lack of magnitude to things, as if we've spent the entire running time waiting for some sort of revelation - an air of quiet respite that never departs. It's at once wicked and silly, both Coen staples, but superficially so. I don't think I'd snicker nearly as often on a second viewing.

In some ways, it feels like an especially long SNL sendup of the auteurs' well-known idiosyncrasies. Tom Hanks certainly feels like he's playing a glaringly colorful caricature in the lead role, tackling an out-of-time southern gentleman as if he were Colonel Sanders. Supporting efforts from JK Simmons, Marlon Wayans and Tzi Ma are no less flamboyant, nor less frivolous.

At worst I'd call it gaudy, shallow and watery, though not irredeemably so. At best? A spicy little caper picture, speckled with immeasurable quirks, that's light and swift at heart.

There are some films that ought never to be remade, and many of the charming "Ealing Comedies" are amongst them. This one - originally from 1955 - was maybe not my favourite of these classic stories, but it still in no way deserved this imbecilic remake from the Coen brothers. Tom Hanks ("Prof. Dorr") is a typical Southern gentleman who inveigles his way into the home of elderly Christian lady "Marva Munson" (Irma P. Hall) and under the guise of practising their musical numbers, he and his gang set about committing a daring robbery of a casino located next door. What really wrecks this for me in the constant use of expletives. The original story is simple, slapstick even, with subtly paced humour that allows the story to develop in a gently menacing fashion. This is just a charm-free, in-your-face, frontal attack on your senses that rarely raises a smile, has nothing even remotely touching about it and even the old lady isn't averse to a little bit of angry behaviour that would have had Katie Johnson spinning in her grave. These original films are a crucial piece of the jigsaw puzzle that depicts the evolution of cinema comedy, and this is just a shockingly poor travesty of an adaptation.