framptonhollis
Despite receiving somewhat negative reviews from critics, and being known as one of the Coen Brothers' lesser works, I found myself really loving this charming fantasy tale about the rise, fall, and redemption of Norville Barnes. In the film, Barnes becomes the president of Hudsucker Industries, after the suicide of Mr. Hudsucker himself. Eventually, he invents the hula hoop and this new invention becomes a smash hit, leading Barnes to a world of success. However, there is a dark side to his fame.The film is beautifully made-especially the set design. It is absolutely stunning, a visual feast for the eyes. The entire setting of the film creates an atmosphere that can only be matched by Terry Gilliam's classic "Brazil" (which this film obviously seems to have taken some inspiration from). If you do not enjoy the story or the characters, it is still hard to deny the film's unique and magical look.The story is definitely very interesting, and the overall film contains a weird, but enjoyable mood and sense of humor. Much of the humor is highly satirical, and some of it is surprisingly dark (well, maybe it isn't "surprisingly dark", this IS the Coen Brothers after all). I laughed throughout the film, and much of the humor is not only due to clever writing and dialogue, but also performances, camera placement, and editing. Certain scenes are edited at a rapid and wonderfully comic pace, proving that the Coen's are masters of comedic editing and timing.This near-masterpiece of satire is an underrated treasure trove of quality performances, visually stunning sets, witty dialogue, and breathtaking atmosphere.(also, I forgot to mention, this movie's music score is AMAZING!)
NateWatchesCoolMovies
My first ever viewing of the Coen Brother's The Hudsucker Proxy tonight left me enchanted. It's such a raucous explosion of absurd and hyperactive characters in surreal, cartoonish synergy I couldn't take my eyes away the entire time. Such is always the case with Coen fare, and I should have expected to be wowed, but every time I see a new film of their's I'm flabbergasted like its the first time discovering their work. Such is their magic; they're a once in a universe creative force that you either get, or you don't. If you aren't already cursed (or blessed, depending on how you look at it) with a really bizarre, abstract sense of humour, then chances are you just won't tune in to their wavelength and be as tickled as hardcore fans. They just have such a wall to wall comedic gold within every screenplay they tackle, a willingness to sit down with the weird, exaggerated side of life and find the uproarious elements in the most mundane of exchanges. Here we see them take on bustling late 50's New York, particularly the cutthroat corporate arena. This is also another chance to display their trademark attention to gorgeous production design and urges to poke fun at the cultural idiosyncrasies of whichever time period they are dwelling on, adding all the more personality to the piece. The ancient Waring Hudsucker (Charles Durning, making compelling work of a silent, puzzling cameo) CEO of mammoth Hudsucker Industries, has hurled himself through the boardroom window, plummeting forty four stories to the pavement below, leaving the throne vacant and prompting his vulture shareholders to circle the monarchy. Second in command Sydney J. Mussburger (Paul Newman, eagle eyed, growling evil in every frame), sets his mind to hiring an utter imbecile to run the shares into the ground, in order to prevent the stocks from going public, a ditch effort of spectacular greed. Enter Norville Barnes (Tim Robbins), a naive small town boy, shunted up from the mailroom straight into Mussburger's awaiting paws, and from there into the CEO's seat. Things look well for the scheme, until Barnes, an opportunistic golden boy, unwittingly invents the newest thing, the... well I won't spoil it for you. When the J. Jonah Jameson of 1950's New York (a rabid John Mahoney, always at the top of his game in Coen land) sends his top reporter, Amy Archer (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to snoop out the company's new 'idea man' CEO, things get wild and weird in true Coen fashion. Leigh is an actress of uncanny ability. In this film, everything is cardboard cutout, cartoonish and emotionally detached, the characters mere cogs in the hyper- real story as opposed to feeling, human people. Leigh most of all is a blustery, shameless stereotype of the mile a minute speech patterned gal that everyone's image of the 50's is like, and in a film full of pseudo real characters, she's the craziest. What amazes me is that even through that sheen of period gloss and chortling melodrama, she's still able to be the only performer to convey any emotion through her work! And emotion she shows, giving poignant little moments that the film hardly has time to acknowledge, but are there for the viewer's discovery all the same! Talk about a paradox. Such is Leigh's unequalled talent though, which I've been preaching for years, and which looks like will get a fresh track to run on with Quentin Tarantino's upcoming The Hateful Eight, and the much anticipated new Twin Peaks season. Just a consummate actress and a delight to behold in anything. This film is one of the most 'Coen' Coen Brothers flicks I've ever seen, and I'm surprised it took me so long to give it a watch. It's got deliberately over the top, quirky people, relentless social and class satire, zany screwball elements and overall, intangible charm that only they can bring us. I've always thought that the energy you get in a Coen Brothers film is so insane and unique that it's equal to those moments on the night before Christmas, a minute before 12am on New Year's Eve, or when the entire neighbourhood wakes up and trundles outside to see why there's ten ambulances down the block, maybe the final seconds of hesitation before taking a risky lakeside cliff jump; there's a palpable dose of giddy adrenaline and undefinable, primal strangeness to anything they produce, a lightning in a bottle, one in a million quality that I've only ever felt with one other filmmaker, David Lynch. Suffice to say, never a dull moment in Coen land. There's an epic supporting cast including Mike Starr, Peter Gallagher, Bruce Campbell (Sam Raimi is a co writer, bless his heart;)), Jon Polito, Bill Cobbs, Joe Grifasi, Noble Willingham, Anna Nicole Smith, John Goodman, Richard Schiff and Steve Buscemi. Fanatics and film lovers alike owe it to themselves to take a trip to this utterly nutty, deliriously stylish, endlessly funny province of Coen land, a place where you never quite know what you're going to get, never quite know what you've just watched when the credits roll, but always know you've had a good, funny bone and brain stimulating time at the movies.
cinefreakdude
I love the Coen brothers, and being a lesser Coen brother movie is hard, because all there others are so dang brilliant. The Hudsucker Proxy is a prime example of this. It's a good, funny movie, but watching it in the line-up the most the Coen brothers' other work, it's just a little weak. There are some great things about this flick though, for example the cinematography and visual look of the movie is totally awesome, and I really liked the film's premise/themes. The only thing I really didn't care for in this movie was Jennifer Jason Leigh... her character was annoying to me. The Hudsucker Proxy is definitely worth watching, and if you're a hardcore fan of the Coen brothers like myself, I think you'll enjoy and appreciate this underrated gem.
