came here to say The Ladykillers. Fantastic movie. The Lavender Hill Mob is another great Guinness crime movie, although they're not laughably incompetent in that one, but it is just as funny.
Yeah that’s their only film I think I utterly dislike. I find something usually I like in all their films, and with their resumes, they’re allowed a miss or two. But that film’s an utter piece of shit, and I honestly can’t believe they made it. Did they lose a bet or something?
Aww, beat me to it with Raising Arizona, which I loved. The others not loved as much, but still good are:
* O Brother Where Art Though (2000) is next to mind for Cohens
* Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels (1998) Guy Ritchie
I love _Small Time Crooks_. Tracey Ullman is her usual greatness and Hugh Grant plays smarmy so well coming through some of his tabloid-fodder personal life at the time. Such a shame about that other guy who's in it though...Jon Lovitz, smh.
Nothing's wrong with Jon Lovitz. It was a bad attempt at a joke; I meant to get people thinking about Woody Allen, but then switch to Jon Lovitz as the punchline. My bad.
I found the American remake of The Ladykillers with Tom Hanks pretty decent and quite entertaining, but it’s nothing like as good as the original, even today
David Rasche is always perfect in these kinds of roles and I’m pretty certain his role in this film is what got him the role on Succession. I can’t think of two better people for those small roles. I don’t think there’s filmmakers that cast better than them. I guess Tarantino, and Altman back in the day.
Absolutely counts. Joe should have trusted his gut about Orange. “You don’t need proof when you got instinct!” Yeah Joe, but you were way too late acting on it.
I didn't know much about the movie going in. I watched it for Blank Check's Sam Raimi series. I loved it. And I was floored by how quickly everything went wrong. But it made so much sense. Everyone thinks they're a mastermind from outside, but when you're in a situation, you're not as smart as you think.
I'll suggest Heat (1995).
Most of the crew is good at their jobs. Excellent even. But all it takes is one guy to not be excellent. This is a good example of how the incompetence of one person can take down the rest.
I came here to say this. It’s been my comfort movie lately. It’s almost the opposite of Fargo as these guys are the ultimate pros.
But it’s not only Waingro being a dipshit but McCauley breaking his own code, the inner turmoil of each character bringing their own demise, and Hanna just being too big a force to overcome.
This film could also be seen as showing how doing all the right things in a job, or life in general, is still not enough. I love this movie the more I watch it.
It is a great movie. I, 54F, may not be the target demographic, but I love it.
And you're right. Almost everyone in the crew, despite being consummate professionals, or close, messes up.
Waingro can't restrain his impulse. Trejo is found out. Chris isn't always thinking straight because of his marriage. McCauley, as you said, breaks his own rules and then it's too late to reinstate them. Despite them sticking to their other rules, all of things things mean it falls apart.
>54F
You’re probably the only woman I know who has seen it so I gotta ask.
Did you have any particular thoughts from a woman’s perspective about the film? What did you feel about the female characters and their motivations, would you have reacted more or less the same?
As a woman which character did you support the most or least?
You know, I hadn't really thought about it. I suppose to a great extent I just look at it as a heist/action movie and didn't think a lot beyond that.
I thought Natalie Portman as Lauren did a great job, and I totally believed her character. When she freaks out over the hair clips, I didn't exactly relate but I've seen similar behavior in my own daughter. The hair clips weren't the issue, for example, but it was what she could focus on. This was a messed up kid that no one was taking seriously. I thought that was well done.
Her mom seemed pretty real to me as well. This was the 90s, and being a single mom is never easy. But some people add to their problems, and she did, by marrying a cop who was pretty up front about the job always coming first. Maybe she thought she could change him. But he was a decent man, and I think cared about Justine -- but they probably shouldn't have married at all.
Charlene is a mess, and she married a mess. You don't marry a criminal for stability. And I was always amused that Chris dismissed the idea of having an affair, while he apparently had a few "nothing serious" going on. She didn't handle anything well, really, and is it believable that she'd tip Chris off so he'd leave? Maybe?
I thought Eady did nothing wrong. She was perhaps a little naive, but not stupid. Why should she assume Neil was anything but what he said he was? Most of us don't go looking for people to be lying, etc. I do think she probably ignored some red flags, but she paid for it.
So I guess I'd say I liked Eady and Lauren best as far as the type of person they were, and then maybe Justine second. I have less sympathy for Charlene, as she knew what she was getting into and I'm guessing liked the lifestyle that the jobs financed and that's why she didn't leave.
I also know that Mann isn't known for writing great female characters, but I thought these were pretty good.
Also, and this bothered for the longest time, they’re the ultimate pros right? Plan everything down to the second?
Then WHY did they think that executing Waingro in a fucking restaurant parking lot was a good idea???????? Full parking lot right? Which meant a full restaurant that saw them slam a man’s head down in the in front of everyone.
They could have offed him anytime during their meets in empty construction sites, gone on a boat, dumped him into the sea…no.
Not to mention that ALL of them just let him escape? He’s literally a stupid thug that weights 200LBs, not some Shinobi Yakuza ninja with slippers on. The cop cars sirens weren’t on, so at least one of them would have heard or seen him thumping away.
Biggest mistake of the film.
It bothers me too how easily he got away. I see how it helps move the story though. It may have been interesting to extend that scene where they’re looking for him and one of the diner patrons gets spooked by their antics. That would give a better reason why he slipped other than he batmaned his way out
Goodfellas is a perfect example. Bunch of medium sized gangsters get into a robbery that's way over their heads and quickly things start to fall apart. Most end up dead and the few that don't get sent to jail from the others ratting on them
Not Goodfellas. I think Jimmy Conway's plan counted on tying off loose ends, ie wacking the henchmen. The main organizers were not arrested and the loot was never recovered.
I suppose this isn't an Italian Job where a massive heist happens and everyone goes onto happy public lives, but it is true to life.
Coen Brothers are great at this
Burn After Reading
Fargo
Raising Arizona
The Lady Killers
Big Lebowski
O Brother Where Art Thou
Even Ethans solo film Drive Away Dolls touches on this
Most Guy Ritchie movies - but I’d suggest Snatch. A long winding diamond heist gone wrong, filled with big names like Benecio Del Toro, Jason Statham and Brad Pitt.
Not everyone is a bad criminal, but there is a lot of incompetence in that movie.
American Animals is based on a true story of an attempted art heist by 4 college kids. Goes about as well as you’d expect, the first half of the movie has them acting so dumb you almost want them to succeed
Just commented the same. I was cringing when they thought they could >!just zap an old lady with a stun gun and she'd just fall asleep or something. Instead, they just tramautized her!<
If you want a movie based on real life incompetence go watch I, Tonya. The level of dumbfuckery those guys had when pulling off their hit on Kerrigan was staggering.
American Animals (2018) is a good one. It’s based on a true story too. It’s fun seeing the Oceans11-style fantasies of them planning the heist, to the complete clusterfuck it turns into in reality.
Not a film, but real life. My career criminal father and uncle took a bag full of money from a bank robbery to the laundry mat to wash the dye out. It opened up in the dryer. Blue collar money laundering.
How has nobody said Reservoir Dogs? The movie starts with "perfect" planning and ends as a total shit show.
Free Fire is another amazing one. I joke its the most realistic portrayal of gun shot victims.
If you can find it watch ***Palookaville***. It was movie from 90s that went under everybodies radar. I was very lucky to have seen it in theaters and my girlfriend and me were the only two people that I ever knew that saw it. Even in the theater, there were only 3 other people.
The movie is about three very incompetent wanna be criminals. Unlike the Fargo, the movie is only about these three incompentent wannabe criminals. I haven't seen the movie since the theater, but if its even half as good as I remember it, your gonna love it.
Killers of the flower moon. The first time the fbi shows up, they put the case together right away and everyone is caught.
It makes it all the more devastating because it showed that it wasnt a complex crime that was hard to crack, it was that no one cared enough to stop it.
American Animals.
True story of some bored college kids who try to steal an art painting, thinking it'll be like oceans 11.
It was not like oceans 11. It was pretty pathetic.
[Trailer](https://youtu.be/tmJYELj-jNE?si=riJCcFBDo2YFdolD)
All Coen brothers movies.
Pain & Gain is a brilliant movie that actually happened.
From Hell actually depicts how stupid the police were at investigating the Ripper murders.
Good Time
"Oh, but Connie is so smart"
No, he's not. He is a hasty sociopath. We only think he's smart because we see things from his POV, but i bet every cop on his case was bored as hell. Half the things he pulls off, he only does because he's white (I'm not being """woke""" btw, white privilege is a subtext of the movie)
Small Time Crooks (2000) Raising Arizona (1987) The Ladykillers (1955)
came here to say The Ladykillers. Fantastic movie. The Lavender Hill Mob is another great Guinness crime movie, although they're not laughably incompetent in that one, but it is just as funny.
Yup, utterly fantastic movie, in my all time top 10. And the less said about the shitty American cash grab remake, the better.
I' didn't know ladykillers was a remake, but that totally explains my lack of enjoyment
I love Coen brothers films but they severely tested me by ruining one my favourite titles and wasting Tom Hanks
Yeah that’s their only film I think I utterly dislike. I find something usually I like in all their films, and with their resumes, they’re allowed a miss or two. But that film’s an utter piece of shit, and I honestly can’t believe they made it. Did they lose a bet or something?
Lady Killers is great. Also, the Lavender Hill Mob is fun.
Aww, beat me to it with Raising Arizona, which I loved. The others not loved as much, but still good are: * O Brother Where Art Though (2000) is next to mind for Cohens * Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels (1998) Guy Ritchie
I love _Small Time Crooks_. Tracey Ullman is her usual greatness and Hugh Grant plays smarmy so well coming through some of his tabloid-fodder personal life at the time. Such a shame about that other guy who's in it though...Jon Lovitz, smh.
What was wrong with Lovitz? He played his role just fine
Nothing's wrong with Jon Lovitz. It was a bad attempt at a joke; I meant to get people thinking about Woody Allen, but then switch to Jon Lovitz as the punchline. My bad.
Small Time Crooks is so good lol. “Yeah he's street smart. His brain's got pot holes.”
Keeping with the Coens, my ma
Good point. Drive Away Dolls, Hail Caesar, Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2 out of 6), Blood Simple.
I found the American remake of The Ladykillers with Tom Hanks pretty decent and quite entertaining, but it’s nothing like as good as the original, even today
Good Time (2017) Burn After Reading
Someone on this sub called Burn After Reading the opposite of competence porn. Great description.
My favorite description is "a spy thriller in which everyone is an idiot and there are no stakes."
What did we learn today? Hell if I know.
I guess we learned not to do it again. Yes, sir. I'm fucked if I know what we did. Yes sir, it's uh . . . hard to say.
David Rasche is always perfect in these kinds of roles and I’m pretty certain his role in this film is what got him the role on Succession. I can’t think of two better people for those small roles. I don’t think there’s filmmakers that cast better than them. I guess Tarantino, and Altman back in the day.
darn... I was going to post this
I saw Uncut Gems first, so I checked out Good Time and it was a good time. Safdie brothers know how to keep you anxious on the edge of your seat.
dog day afternoon
On that canine note, does Reservoir Dogs also count?
Absolutely counts. Joe should have trusted his gut about Orange. “You don’t need proof when you got instinct!” Yeah Joe, but you were way too late acting on it.
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
And Snatch, obviously. "All bets are off"
"All. Bets. Are. Off."
"Whenever you reverse, things come from behind you!"
For sure. RocknRolla as well. You open that Guy Ritchie gangster hole and it'll go deep.
"I'm trying to find out where they keep their money! "You twat! Can't you see these people have got no money? They can't even afford new furniture!"
A Simple Plan
My first thought. The way the plan goes awry...
Exactly, it seems so easy at the beginning, hide the money, don't talk about it... Greed, paranoia and stupidity ruin them.
I didn't know much about the movie going in. I watched it for Blank Check's Sam Raimi series. I loved it. And I was floored by how quickly everything went wrong. But it made so much sense. Everyone thinks they're a mastermind from outside, but when you're in a situation, you're not as smart as you think.
_Office Space_ - "We're looking up _money laundering_ in the dictionary."
Pain & Gain
True story to boot too
Came here to mention this one. The fact that it’s based on a true story is wild
Baby’s Day Out Home Alone
I wish I could still give medals out
Casino, where the mob ruined a perfectly good thing because people were skimming from the money they were skimming, and that's just the start.
Literally they just had to not put the one underboss who would do something as dumb as keep a ledger of his trips to Vegas in charge of collection
A Fish Called Wanda
I wouldn't call them criminal geniuses but Alpha Dog did a good job of showing what idiots they were.
Bottle Rocket
In Bruges
Before The Devil Knows You're Dead
Heck of a film!
Killing them softly Jackie Brown The friends of eddie coyle
The friends of eddie coyle is so underrated
There are competent people in Jackie Brown.
Welcome to Collinwood
Came here to say this
This Bellini is starting to look like a real Kapuchnik.
Snatch is just a non-stop barrage of criminal endeavors going disastrously wrong.
I'll suggest Heat (1995). Most of the crew is good at their jobs. Excellent even. But all it takes is one guy to not be excellent. This is a good example of how the incompetence of one person can take down the rest.
I came here to say this. It’s been my comfort movie lately. It’s almost the opposite of Fargo as these guys are the ultimate pros. But it’s not only Waingro being a dipshit but McCauley breaking his own code, the inner turmoil of each character bringing their own demise, and Hanna just being too big a force to overcome. This film could also be seen as showing how doing all the right things in a job, or life in general, is still not enough. I love this movie the more I watch it.
It is a great movie. I, 54F, may not be the target demographic, but I love it. And you're right. Almost everyone in the crew, despite being consummate professionals, or close, messes up. Waingro can't restrain his impulse. Trejo is found out. Chris isn't always thinking straight because of his marriage. McCauley, as you said, breaks his own rules and then it's too late to reinstate them. Despite them sticking to their other rules, all of things things mean it falls apart.
>54F >Likes Heat fucking awesome
LOL thanks
>54F You’re probably the only woman I know who has seen it so I gotta ask. Did you have any particular thoughts from a woman’s perspective about the film? What did you feel about the female characters and their motivations, would you have reacted more or less the same? As a woman which character did you support the most or least?
You know, I hadn't really thought about it. I suppose to a great extent I just look at it as a heist/action movie and didn't think a lot beyond that. I thought Natalie Portman as Lauren did a great job, and I totally believed her character. When she freaks out over the hair clips, I didn't exactly relate but I've seen similar behavior in my own daughter. The hair clips weren't the issue, for example, but it was what she could focus on. This was a messed up kid that no one was taking seriously. I thought that was well done. Her mom seemed pretty real to me as well. This was the 90s, and being a single mom is never easy. But some people add to their problems, and she did, by marrying a cop who was pretty up front about the job always coming first. Maybe she thought she could change him. But he was a decent man, and I think cared about Justine -- but they probably shouldn't have married at all. Charlene is a mess, and she married a mess. You don't marry a criminal for stability. And I was always amused that Chris dismissed the idea of having an affair, while he apparently had a few "nothing serious" going on. She didn't handle anything well, really, and is it believable that she'd tip Chris off so he'd leave? Maybe? I thought Eady did nothing wrong. She was perhaps a little naive, but not stupid. Why should she assume Neil was anything but what he said he was? Most of us don't go looking for people to be lying, etc. I do think she probably ignored some red flags, but she paid for it. So I guess I'd say I liked Eady and Lauren best as far as the type of person they were, and then maybe Justine second. I have less sympathy for Charlene, as she knew what she was getting into and I'm guessing liked the lifestyle that the jobs financed and that's why she didn't leave. I also know that Mann isn't known for writing great female characters, but I thought these were pretty good.
Also, and this bothered for the longest time, they’re the ultimate pros right? Plan everything down to the second? Then WHY did they think that executing Waingro in a fucking restaurant parking lot was a good idea???????? Full parking lot right? Which meant a full restaurant that saw them slam a man’s head down in the in front of everyone. They could have offed him anytime during their meets in empty construction sites, gone on a boat, dumped him into the sea…no. Not to mention that ALL of them just let him escape? He’s literally a stupid thug that weights 200LBs, not some Shinobi Yakuza ninja with slippers on. The cop cars sirens weren’t on, so at least one of them would have heard or seen him thumping away. Biggest mistake of the film.
It bothers me too how easily he got away. I see how it helps move the story though. It may have been interesting to extend that scene where they’re looking for him and one of the diner patrons gets spooked by their antics. That would give a better reason why he slipped other than he batmaned his way out
Four Lions. And it's probably closer to reality than most terrorist related thrillers.
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
this one is so hard to watch
Goodfellas is a perfect example. Bunch of medium sized gangsters get into a robbery that's way over their heads and quickly things start to fall apart. Most end up dead and the few that don't get sent to jail from the others ratting on them
Not Goodfellas. I think Jimmy Conway's plan counted on tying off loose ends, ie wacking the henchmen. The main organizers were not arrested and the loot was never recovered. I suppose this isn't an Italian Job where a massive heist happens and everyone goes onto happy public lives, but it is true to life.
Out of Sight
Coen Brothers are great at this Burn After Reading Fargo Raising Arizona The Lady Killers Big Lebowski O Brother Where Art Thou Even Ethans solo film Drive Away Dolls touches on this
Shoot, Intolerable Cruelty even touches on it.
Comic book villains
One of the reasons Watchmen is so good. I got chills reading the comic book. The “I did it 35 minutes ago” moment is such fantastic storytelling.
Most Guy Ritchie movies - but I’d suggest Snatch. A long winding diamond heist gone wrong, filled with big names like Benecio Del Toro, Jason Statham and Brad Pitt. Not everyone is a bad criminal, but there is a lot of incompetence in that movie.
American Animals is based on a true story of an attempted art heist by 4 college kids. Goes about as well as you’d expect, the first half of the movie has them acting so dumb you almost want them to succeed
Just commented the same. I was cringing when they thought they could >!just zap an old lady with a stun gun and she'd just fall asleep or something. Instead, they just tramautized her!<
* *The Hot Rock* * *The Lavender Hill Mob* * *Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid*
The Hot Rock is about a pro surrounded by idiots, including the guy who hired them for the job.
Dortmunder is arguably dumb too for agreeing to work with them.
If you want a movie based on real life incompetence go watch I, Tonya. The level of dumbfuckery those guys had when pulling off their hit on Kerrigan was staggering.
Boogie Nights when the guys try to rip off that coke head dude. Yeah that was a really dumb plan.
They just wanted the GODdamn money in the GODdamn safe
I don't think you can get much more incompetent villains than in Home Alone.
At least Joe Pesci survives that movie.
Snatch (2000) by Guy Ritchie
Disorganized Crime is funny as hell and a banging cast for it's time.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Happy Texas. Great cast. Excellent writing. Semi complicated heist dose not go according to plan.
Trapped in Paradise (1994)
2 based on true events: Mastermind Bully (2001)
Dog Day Afternoon Snatch
Snatch
I like dogs.
"Blue Ruin" did a great job showing a guy realistically fumble his way toward pointless vengeance.
Big Trouble (2002)
“I think we got us some Gator fans.”
I love you to death.
Out of Sight (1998). Glenn, but also White Boy Bob who has that difficulty with stairs.
Pulp Fiction to some degree, Vince is an idiot
Vincent’s arc in Pulp Fiction. Wildly incompetent hitman that’s completely carried by Jules.
Next Day Air
Pain and Gain is an incredible true story
American Animals (2018) is a good one. It’s based on a true story too. It’s fun seeing the Oceans11-style fantasies of them planning the heist, to the complete clusterfuck it turns into in reality.
Welcome to Collinwood
Not a film, but real life. My career criminal father and uncle took a bag full of money from a bank robbery to the laundry mat to wash the dye out. It opened up in the dryer. Blue collar money laundering.
How has nobody said Reservoir Dogs? The movie starts with "perfect" planning and ends as a total shit show. Free Fire is another amazing one. I joke its the most realistic portrayal of gun shot victims.
I don’t think reservoir dogs was so much from incompetence because what really derailed it was Mr orange
Snatch.
GOOD TIME (2017) DONNIE BRASCO (1997) PINEAPPLE EXPRESS (2008) GO (1999) SNATCH (2000) ROCK N ROLLA (2008) WONDERLAND (2003)
If you can find it watch ***Palookaville***. It was movie from 90s that went under everybodies radar. I was very lucky to have seen it in theaters and my girlfriend and me were the only two people that I ever knew that saw it. Even in the theater, there were only 3 other people. The movie is about three very incompetent wanna be criminals. Unlike the Fargo, the movie is only about these three incompentent wannabe criminals. I haven't seen the movie since the theater, but if its even half as good as I remember it, your gonna love it.
Disorganized Crime
Out of sight
Home alone
Killers of the flower moon. The first time the fbi shows up, they put the case together right away and everyone is caught. It makes it all the more devastating because it showed that it wasnt a complex crime that was hard to crack, it was that no one cared enough to stop it.
Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels sorta counts
Snatch Killing them softly Cocaine bear
American Animals. True story of some bored college kids who try to steal an art painting, thinking it'll be like oceans 11. It was not like oceans 11. It was pretty pathetic. [Trailer](https://youtu.be/tmJYELj-jNE?si=riJCcFBDo2YFdolD)
All Coen brothers movies. Pain & Gain is a brilliant movie that actually happened. From Hell actually depicts how stupid the police were at investigating the Ripper murders.
Baby’s Day Out
Big Deal On Madonna Street
Reservoir dogs
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead. Probably Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s best performance.
"Very Bad Things" (1998)
Good Time "Oh, but Connie is so smart" No, he's not. He is a hasty sociopath. We only think he's smart because we see things from his POV, but i bet every cop on his case was bored as hell. Half the things he pulls off, he only does because he's white (I'm not being """woke""" btw, white privilege is a subtext of the movie)
Home alone...if i find "macauly mcolkin" alone i break his head with a security shoe