A visually arresting but emotionally uninvolving dark comedy.
The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
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Reviews Counted:8
Fresh:2
Rotten:6
Average Rating:4/10
Runtime: 1 hr 52 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: THE HUDSUCKER PROXY opens with a spectacular shot of snow falling over a beautiful city; the camera pans in slowly over the rooftops until it comes upon the Hudsucker Industries building, with a... THE HUDSUCKER PROXY opens with a spectacular shot of snow falling over a beautiful city; the camera pans in slowly over the rooftops until it comes upon the Hudsucker Industries building, with a huge clock about to ring in the New Year--and a man about to jump to his death. The rest of this hilarious Coen brothers film tells in flashback the fascinating tale of Norville Barnes and what brought him to that ledge. Tim Robbins stars as Barnes, a hick from Muncie, Indiana, intent on becoming a New York City executive. His timing is magical as he enters the doors of Hudsucker Industries just as the Hudsucker board determines it needs a patsy to run the company into the ground so it can buy up shares when the company goes public in a month. He hires Amy (the fast-talking Jennifer Jason Leigh) as his assistant--but unbeknownst to him, she is a reporter trying to expose him. THE HUDSUCKER PROXY is the Coen brothers' madcap romp through 1940s screwball comedy--albeit with a darker edge. The film is highlighted by sparkling art direction, fabulolus sets, snappy dialogue, and terrific supporting turns from Paul Newman, Charles Durning, and Bruce Campbell. Oh, and beware the Blue Letter.... [More]
Starring: Tim Robbins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Paul Newman, Charles Durning
Starring: Tim Robbins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Paul Newman, Charles Durning, John Mahoney, Jim True, Bill Cobbs, Bruce Campbell, Steve Buscemi
Director: Joel Coen
Director: Joel Coen
Producer: Ethan Coen
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Reviews for The Hudsucker Proxy
A jeering, dreamlike comedy with nothing much on its mind except how neat the Coen brothers are and how stupid or contemptible everybody else is, including everyone in the audience.
Nearly everything in the Coen brothers' latest and biggest film seems like a wizardly but artificial synthesis, leaving a hole in the middle where some emotion and humanity should be.
Movies are, after all, about fakery; so is the story of Norville's rise and fall and redemption.
If something brilliant is happening in The Hudsucker Proxy -- and you're meant to believe that it is -- it's apparent only to Ethan and Joel Coen.
Not even the slightest attempt is made to suggest that the film takes its own story seriously. Everything is style. The performances seem deliberately angled as satire.
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