Review of The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) by Blake P — 20 Mar 2014

When the Coen Brothers do comedy, they don't just sit there and hope to write good jokes. They go all out, fit with winking black humor, loony visual cues, and zippy physical comedy that moves faster than a hot bullet. "The Hudsucker Proxy", which is most likely their least remembered project in their lengthy filmography, proves that, even without critical acclaim or a cult fan base on its side, the Coen Brothers, on their worst day, are better than most.

Tim Robbins portrays Norville Barnes, a chipper yet blissfully unaware man from Indiana who dreams to make it big in the city. Lucky for him, he lands a mailing job at the massive Hudsucker Industries, which stretches 45 stories and boasts gigantic economic power. Barnes may not be the brightest bulb in the ceiling, but he does have an idea for a new children's toy, and he believes that if he presents it to executive Sidney J. Mussberger (Paul Newman), he could make it big.

Just as Barnes is hired, company president Waring Hudsucker (Charles Durning) dramatically commits suicide (during a meeting on the 44th floor, he runs down the board room table, jumps through the window, and lands with a cringeworthy splat on the pavement), so literally, Barnes is going up just as Hudsucker is going down. Desperate to head the company, Mussberger realizes that, if he hires an incompetent individual for Hudsucker's old job, it will devalue the stock, and therefore, the company will be forced to hire him to pick up the pieces.

When Barnes finally does get the chance to show his idea to Mussberger, the recipe for disaster begins and Barnes' luck goes from deliriously fantastic to drearily low.

Looking towards the screwball comedy mastery of Preston Sturges and Frank Capra, "The Hudsucker Proxy" takes the formula of the classic genre and scrambles it up into something that can only be described as Coen-esque, if that's even a thing. The film moves at such a breakneck speed that by the time it all slows down, we can't help but want to gasp for air.

The film is bent towards the satirical side of things, set with massively mounted art-deco design and a city so exaggerated that it stinks with the glittery fakery of a Rogers and Astaire vehicle. All of the characters are written in the spirit of a cartoon, with executives chewing on fat cigars, to the heroine spitting out witty lines that seem to mimic Katharine Hepburn in "Bringing Up Baby", if she were on acid.

The ensemble embodies the loopy parts given to them - Jennifer Jason Leigh especially has her part nailed, a Rosalind Russell inspired reporter that wins the heart of Barnes.

Modern screwball comedies never seem to work, but "The Hudsucker Proxy" is something special. While in its roots, it's a stunning homage, it manages to have a sort of punch in the gut mindset that keeps everything fittingly loopy.