Customer Reviews

The Hudsucker Proxy (Widescreen)

5 star:		(51)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

After a string of critically acclaimed films it seemed inevitable that the Coens would eventually get slammed by the critics at some point. The Hudsucker Proxy was that film. Criticized for unsuccessfully blending the sensibilities of Frank Capra and Preston Sturges and tagged with a title that the general public did not understand, the film disappeared quickly from theaters.

It's too bad because there is a lot going on in this film. As always, it has the Coens flawless, stunning production values. This was the first film where the boys had a huge budget to play with and boy did they ever put every cent up on the screen. This is a fantastical version of New York City in the '50s -- think Terry Gilliam's Brazil but with all the nightmarish, Orwellian influences.

The film also features the Coens trademark snappy dialogue. Lots of verbal acrobatics and a cast that is more than up for the task. Jennifer Jason Leigh is the stand-out as she morphs effortlessly into Katherine Hepburn with her rapid-fire delivery and very distinctive way of speaking. She is excellent. Tim Robbins, at first, seems like an unlikely guy to play a schlub, a dim-witted patsy. But then take a look at his career-defining performance in Bull Durham to see that the Coens knew exactly what they were doing when they cast him.

Paul Newman is also wonderful as the evil Sidney J. Mussberger (love that name!) and he imparts just the right amount of comical menace.

Fans of Sam Raimi will want to check this one out for two reasons. First, Sam's main man, Bruce Campbell has a significant role as Smitty, an ace reporter who is Leigh's foil throughout the film. It's great to see Campbell in a Coen bros. film -- I wish he'd be in more of 'em! Also, Raimi not only co-wrote the screenplay but he also did the bulk of the second unit work. Check out the famed hula hoop creation sequence. Sam directed that bit. He also has a cameo as one of the guys who thinks up the name Hula Hoop.

This is a really great film that deserves a larger audience. Many people regard this as the Coens weakest film to date but I dunno 'bout that. I love watching this movie and I have fond memories of seeing it on the big screen.

The DVD is fine with a solid transfer and good sound. Sadly, no real extras to speak of but it is definitely worth picking up if you're a fan of the Coens.

That's what my daughter named this one when she was about seven, catching on to the visual theme pretty quick.

This is one of my favorite movies.

If you never heard of it, don't be surprised or embarrassed. I first stumbled over it one Saturday night in the '90s channel surfing. I hit the French CBC station and there was Charles Durning diving past the world's tallest building, wiping wind-tears from his eye. It was such an amazing shot and I thought What the hell movie is this? The next thing Paul Newman appears, dubbed into French. And now I'm really wondering what this is. The station IDs it as the Hudsucker Proxy, and I'm still clueless. And at this time I was already acquainted with the Coen bros movies.

I did a little research later and it seems the studio chickened out. With typical Hollywood business logic, they poured $20m or so into making it, and then got cold feet and spent $0 on promotion, and the movie opened in about 8 theatres across North America. So of course it died.

If there is any justice, the movie will become like the Shawshank Redemption and become a cult classic on DVD. Judging by all the positive reviews here, that may well be happening.

A lot of the previous reviews caught the essence of it: this movie is enchanting; it is pure magic. This is what movies and story telling are all about.

There is just too much to say. The music is one of the best aspects. A lot of classical Russian stuff mixed with original music. It is just supports the story perfectly. Visually too, the look is very, what? Soothing? Like film critics say, it has a "palette," in this case a lot of earth tones and blues. A very dreamy New York. You could see this movie with the dialog and music turned off and enjoy it just for the way it looks. Tim Robbins is great. Jason Leigh is wonderful. Paul Newman looks like he is having a blast. Great supporting cast and tons of those strange Coen Brother characters.

And if you are a lover of classic old Hollywood movies, you will have a field day. There are so many references to individual movies, besides genres and styles, it is mind boggling.

A few of the previous reviewers said they found it boring. Incredible thing to say. The pace is so fast, so much happens. People, when you watched it were you on sedatives? Of course, it's a Coen film: they expect you to pay attention. If you do, you are rewarded, big time. If that's too much effort, go rent Star Wars Empire XXIV.

Too many favorite parts to even remember. The huge dark cold industrial mail room, all the clerks bundled up and looking as if they have spent their entire lives there; the board of directors, to a man, grey and crooked; the blue letter; Buzz the elevator boy; old Moses, keeping the big wheels turning; Mussberger's secretaries and the The Book; Mussberger's vast palatial office; the double-stitching (She's a one strong stitch!); the cab drivers narrating Amy's first encounter with Norville; Norville showing people the diagram for his great idea; the editor ranting at his reporters; the Christmas party and Norville wedged between the two ladies (pay close attention to what Mrs Mussberger tells him); Norville meeting the Finnish stockholder; Amy telling Norville about the real beatnik bar in her neighborhood; Norville pretentiously explaining the circle of life to Amy (What your beatnik friends call "Karmah"); the silhouetted boys in the Creative Bullpen spinning zany names for the new product, while their secretary sits outside reading one Tolstoi after another; the snowy New Year's Eve and a bleary Norville running into Buzz, who pops him one at the instigation of Anna Nicole Smith (how did she ever get hooked up with the Coens?); old Moses interviewing Amy; Charles Durning still a grouchy cranky businessman despite having "merged with the infinite"; and so on.

Apologies for such a long write up. But it's a great, truly unique movie.

Again, the Coen brothers made a huge score with Hudsucker Proxy. I am now a huge fan of all their works and this one is totally funny. It was the first one I saw from them and I really enjoy it. But when I saw it after seiing Big Lebowski, Fargo, Barton Fink and others, I found it even more better! I didnt recommanded it as a first seen movie from the Coen brother but if you enjoy their type of movie, you`ll totally enjoy this one buddy!

A film by the Coen Brothers

"The Hudsucker Proxy" is the fantastic story of Noville Barnes (Tim Robbins). Norville is just some poor shmoe looking for work, but he isn't qualified for anything and he has no work experience. He takes a job as a mailroom clerk at Hudsucker Industries. We're not sure what they do or what they make, but at a board meeting, we find out the company is posting record profits. When a man is done with his litany of the company's successes, the chairman, Mr Hudsucker himself, stands up on the long table, starts running, and commits suicide by jumping out the window and falling to his death.

What to do? The rest of the board needs to be able to purchase a controlling interest in Hudsucker stock, but the stock price is too high. The formulate a plan to temporarily drive down the stock prices by hiring as president of the company someone so incompetent that shareholders will be so scared that stock prices will plummet. The dimwit president: Norville Barnes. It is Sidney Mussburger (Paul Newman) who is pulling the strings behind the scenes to make all this happen; it is his master plan that sets all this in motion.

Amy Archer (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is the fast talking reporter who goes undercover to investigate Norville and find out why Hudsucker would have hired him as the president. "The Hudsucker Proxy" is funny in a smart, clever way, and is highly entertaining. The Coen Brothers do not make ordinary or conventional movies ("Intolerable Cruelty" aside), but they definitely make some of the top movies of any given year.

-Joe Sherry

This is a great movie from the Coen brothers. It is not a violent or gory as some of their other films, but there are certainly some very devious characters. The movie includes a heavily character driven story, it is very well paced and fun all the way through. The visual style is brilliant, showcasing the Coen brother's ability to make film footage of ordinary settings seem surreal and slightly comic bookish, and they keep it up consistently for the length of a movie. This inevitably aids their storytelling by making the movie's world distinct and vivid as a setting for the characters who are equally ordinary yet unmistakeably unusual.

Fantastic!!! Brilliant script, brilliant performances, brilliant direction, brilliant score, brilliant production design!!! Did I mention how brilliant it is? My favorite Coen Bros. film. When are we going to get a proper DVD release of this film?

The amazing Coen brothers take us on a fantastic ride with The Hudsucker Proxy. Clearly, from the beginning to the end, you are emerged into a very surreal world set in the big city in 1940. Following the goofy, yet enjoyable Norville Barnes (Tim Robbins), we experience a rediculous ride to the top, and fall to the bottom. There are many things about this movie that just seem 'unreal', from the absurd dialogue, to the strange happenings, you get a sense of perfectness throughout the film, something that never happens in real life. I'd recommend this movie to anyone, especially Coen fans.

I am a huge Coen Brothers fan, I love all their movies ( Blood Simple,Raising Arazona The Man Who Wasn't There, Barton Fink, Oh Brother, Big Lewbawski), but not this one, yet this movie seems to get the highest ratings. The sory didnt seem to have much substance, the humour was more cute then funny, The female reporter had the most anoying accent/voice. The story line i found to be too far fetched and full of holes. It was almost impossible to watch it the second time around. I'm glad i did watch it though, as I am a Coen Brothers fan. I would recomend that you hire the movie first, but going by reviews there is a 99% chance that you will love this film, I must be in that other 1%.

I have loved all the films that the Coen Brothers have produced. This one was a bit of a surprise, Tim Robbins was an excellant choice for his part. I didn't even know it was a Coen Bros. movie until after about the first 30 minutes, then the light bulb in my head came on, and I KNEW it had to be. I enjoy their brand of humor and tongue in cheek quips, it was recognizable. Like the early Marx Bros. movies, I love the pace and that its often better the second time watching it. I like the undertones like that of a Brit made movie.

New York in the late 1950s. Norville Barnes (Robbins) is a nobody who gets a job in the hilariously nightmare-ish mail room of the vast Hudsucker Corporation. But he is ambitious. He has a wild business idea represented by a circle on a piece of paper he is given to waving at people. This of course instantly convinces them they are talking to a moron who has just, quite literally, reinvented the wheel. At it later transpires that is not what he has done. A moron, however, is exactly what the boardroom, led by evil Sidney J. Mussburger (Paul Newman), wants. Company founding president Waring Hudsucker has just thrown himself to his death from the top floor and his fellow board members learn that the company rules deem his dominant share in the company stock must be put on sale to the general public in the New Year. If only they could get it to fall so low they could buy it themselves. If only they could hire such an idiot as President that shareholder confidence would collapse. At which point who should walk into Mussburger's office to deliver a letter but Barnes...

The result is quite excellent movie. It's not quite as good as the best of the Coen Brothers later stuff which it often anticipates. Thus it starts out with a voice-over section as the camera sweeps into New York City from a distance, humourously establishing both the place and the central character, that strongly anticipates the opening of "Big Lebowski". And it's very evidently inspired by a host of earlier classic American movies in much the way "Lebowski" and "Oh Brother" were. The ghost of Frank Capra is never very far away. And the most important character I've not yet mentioned, Jennifer Jason Leigh as Amy, the hard boiled journalist who sets out to expose Barnes but ends up as the love interest, is clearly enough based on characters like Rosalind Russell's Hildy Johnson in "His Girl Friday". That's another movie this isn't quite as good as. But that again is praising it with faint damnation: most novels, including some great ones, aren't as good as "Mansfield Park"! And this is a truly splendid film, a really excellent, beautifully written and extremely funny movie that deserves to be better known.