Review of The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) by Joe H — 17 Apr 2009

The Coen brothers make distinctive films. Black humour, word play, a shiny veneer, amoral characters, an extroverted world, and some ingredient that I can't put my finger on that means I cannot stand them. The ingredients say they should be good, but somehow they fail to connect with my brain and I sit there, stony faced, watching the jokes, knowing they are jokes, but not laughing. The Hudsucker Proxy is different. It has the same ingredients that make it a Coen brothers film, but with a big difference: it's good. It's really, really good.

Norville Barnes (an adorable Tim Robbins) comes to the big city for a job, but finds, fresh out of college, that he can't get one without experience. Then Waring Hudsucker (Charles During) founder of Hudsucker Industries commits suicide, and Vice President Sidney Mussburger (Paul Newman) needs to put an idiot in charge to lower the value of the stock so he can buy it up. When Norville sets fire to Mussburgerâ??s office and knocks him out the window, it seems Mussburger has found his man. But Norville has an idea that's going to put Hudsucler Industries on the map. You know - for kids.

This is an extremely visual film, and very stylish. This, combined with the beautiful music and the constantly funny script, create a film experience that is magical and utterly absorbing. On the down side, it lacks a certain amount of depth when it comes to the characters, but that comes with such a magical story.

This is wonderful escapism. There really is nothing else quite like The Hudsucker Proxy.